overcome

Holiness The Fabric of Society

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When we look at the Scriptures, we realize that they are called the Holy Scriptures. When we speak of the Holy Spirit, we must never forget that He is the Holy Spirit. When we speak about the Sabbath, we speak of the holy Sabbath; and God said of His people, “You are a holy people unto Me.”

The book of Hebrews dwells largely on the earthly sanctuary, which was the ritual, the process, that God gave to the Israelite people in the Old Testament, and then to us the heavenly sanctuary, to emphasize the plan of salvation—how it works and what the holiness of God really is. It is through this system that we learn how to approach a holy God when we have been involved in sin.

“For they [our fathers] verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but He [God] for our profit, that we might be partakers of His holiness.” “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.” Hebrews 12:10,14

If we do not follow after holiness, we will never see the Lord; we will never be in heaven. It will only be a holy people who inherit heaven and the new earth. It therefore behooves us, in the day in which we live, and age like that of Sodom and Gomorrah, to understand by personal experience what holiness is. In order to do this, we must have our thinking shaped all the way through with the concepts of holiness from the Scriptures.

The time brought to view in Isaiah 6 was a time of crisis for the people of God. The outlook was dismal and the future looked dark indeed. But, the Lord gave to Isaiah a vision of His holiness and His majesty in that hour of crisis. “In the year that king Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of His glory.” Isaiah 6:1-3. What a message at an hour of darkness and crisis!

We are facing an hour of darkness on this earth when the darkness of the apostasy will become as black as midnight, impenetrable as the sackcloth of hair, but God’s people are called upon to, “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.” Isaiah 60:1

It is interesting to note that the angels, in crying to one another, did not cry, “Love, love, love.” The Bible does not substitute love for holiness. Though love is God’s self-communicating attribute and character, His holiness always dominates, controls and directs His love.

Holiness is self-affirming purity, something that this generation has lost sight of. In the place of holiness, it has sought to substitute love, failing to clearly distinguish that holiness must dominate, direct and control love. As a result, we live in a generation that has lost its respect for purity and holiness and has immersed itself in the immorality of Sodom and Gomorrah. This will inevitably result in a totalitarian world state.

Holiness, according to the Spirit of Prophecy, is wholeness for God. As it was not in Rome’s interest to promote holiness, she withheld the Holy Scriptures from the people. This understanding of true holiness involves separation from all uncleanness and impurity and, of necessity, from the world. It was the Puritans’ understanding of this concept, leading them to strive for obedience to the law of God, that made them so powerful in their opposition to the Papacy.

At Vatican II, the principles of communism gained control of the Catholic Church, and particularly of the Jesuit order. The position taken in Vatican II regarding the non-Christian religions called for involving everyone, even the pagan and spiritualistic religions, in the ecumenical movement. The Jesuits were deeply involved in fostering the peace and anti-war movement, as well as the hippie movement. It is always the concept of every revolution to gain the thinking of the young people, and immediately after Vatican II, we had the student generation in revolt. Youth who belonged to middle class families suddenly joined communes. This revolt was an international phenomenon, a tremendous twisting of the thinking of the young people. Very rapidly these principles expanded out over the youth generation.

It is interesting to note that it was at this time that the Youth’s Instructor was discarded for Insight magazine and major changes came into our own Adventist structure regarding how to deal with the youth. The battle cry on the college campuses (I was on them at that time) was, “You’ve got to be relevant.” What they meant was “relative to the world.”

Suddenly the message was no longer so much one of preaching salvation, calling people to the Word of God, calling them to holiness and purity and standing on the platform of the everlasting gospel, but rather a discarding of personal piety; a going into the inner cities, doing social gospel. The social gospel supplanted the everlasting gospel and the Jesuits were very fundamental in bringing about this change.

Just before Nazism took control of Germany, there was a hippie movement among the youth. Middle class young people suddenly left their homes, drifted around the countryside and read the philosophy of Nietsche. The philosophy of Nietsche, with his concept of replacing God with self, is now the main philosophy that Americans have accepted. The man on the street who does not even know the name Nietsche has accepted his philosophy. Now the psychiatry and psychology of our day has replaced religion, to a large extent. The self-help, self-esteem movement and the church growth movement which has brought into it these philosophies, is dominating the churches and the whole nation is being smothered with this.

It is interesting to note, that, according to Professor Allen Bloom, the very concept which originated over in Europe, resulting in Nazism, was imported into America right about the time of World War II with the flight of many German professors from the universities in Germany. They were fleeing from Hitler, but they brought with them the germs of the same thinking that brought Hitler to power. Upon their arrival, they took significant positions in our American Universities, spreading their ideology throughout society.

In the Review, July 1, 1993, the question is asked: “How should we warn the world; with billboards, magazine inserts, and books like The Great Controversy?” The article goes on to question whether we should rent billboards, place ads on subway cars in the U.S. capital or buy inserts in secular magazines to openly unveil error or question churches as being false. The question is posed: Shall we mass distribute Ellen White’s book, The Great Controversy, which clearly calls the Roman Catholic Church the dragon-controlled beast of Revelation 13? It is then pointed out that in years past, certain Adventist groups and individuals have tried all of these methods.

I can understand that people who have had their thinking developed along certain lines might have a problem with billboards, but it is shocking, to say the very least, to have the distribution of The Great Controversy questioned.

The article, written by Paul Gordon, had as its basic thrust that, because we live in an ecumenical age when it is not welcome within the Christian community to speak against another church or its doctrines, we must, therefore, have a very careful approach, and he seems to be questioning the mass distribution of The Great Controversy. That which makes this most interesting is the fact that he is the secretary of the Ellen G. White Estate at Silver Springs, Maryland.

I would submit that if we do not understand what holiness—wholeness for God—really is and define our position and our activities solely with reference to a position of wholeness toward God and the Word of God, we will ultimately come to the other side of the great controversy.

God wants not only truth preached, but He wants error exposed so that people can find their way. The question we must consider is, are we going to let our activity be dictated and molded by ecumenical consciousness or will it be dictated and shaped by holiness—wholeness for God—and a complete dependence on His Word? Will we be daily asking, “Lord, what is the message that You want me to preach?”

The generations of Americans who made America great were generations that were founded in Christian concepts. They were founded in concepts of right and wrong, of personal purity and holiness. In our nation, we have a heritage that rests upon the effort of thousands of men of God over a period of centuries seeking after practical holiness. This is particularly true of the Puritan era. It was this seeking after practical holiness that developed the quality of character that led to obedience to God’s law—self-control under God. It was this quality, more than any other, that ultimately gave them the ability to found a great nation on these shores; a nation that promoted liberty and justice for all.

Holiness is fundamental to liberty, for involved in holiness is integrity and justice. These qualities of holiness confirm the soul in its fullness for God, who is the only source of liberty. “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” 2 Corinthians 3:17, and that is the only place where liberty truly is. When, however, people forsake the concept of God’s holiness and fail to understand what personal holiness is by experiencing it in their own lives, those people are headed for totalitarianism and slavery.

The demise of these Christian principles has changed the whole face of an entire generation in this nation, and we now have a baby-boomer president, as well as vice-president, with these same kinds of philosophies. We are facing an onslaught of the New Age Movement with its spiritualism that is going to suffocate the exercise of conscience in our nation.

Holiness is the quality that our generation has lost. They wanted to supplant love for holiness, but what happened? They were the love children, the flower children. They had Woodstock, with all types of impurity being practiced. Those of you who have any knowledge of anyone who was involved in that movement know the degradation and impurity of that culture and thinking. And, even the people who were not hippies, per se, were still influenced in their thinking process by this movement.

The destruction of holiness in the baby-boomer, hippie generation has rendered its soul to the machinations of Satan and we see a flood of the occult. Whole sections of bookstores are now devoted to this type of material. Thinking of academia is being shaped by it, as is that of the churches. The eradication of holiness leaves the soul defenseless and open to demonic influence.

What has happened to music is another dimension of what has been taking place in our society, because the impact has been felt in every area of culture and the arts. This generation has abandoned holiness and has opened up its soul to rock music, inspired by demons, and is setting itself up for control under the tyranny of Satan.

The most fundamental attribute of God is His holiness, and this holiness of God is the attribute of God that is most damaged in people’s understanding by the hippie, New Age, occult and spiritualistic philosophy.

When we examine the spiritualistic, love doctrine from the Biblical perspective, we see that the idea of love, love, love, without it being controlled and informed and having its substance in holiness, means being involved in the spiritualistic, spiritual love doctrine of the last days, the most dangerous form of spiritualism.

“He who could appear clothed with the brightness of the heavenly seraphs before Christ in the wilderness of temptation, came to men in the most attractive manner as an angel of light. He appeals to the reason by the presentation of elevation themes; he delights the fancy with enrapturing scenes; and he enlists the affections by his eloquent portrayals of love and charity. He excites the imagination to lofty flights, leading men to take so great pride in their own wisdom that in their hearts they despise the Eternal One. That mighty being who could take the world’s Redeemer to an exceedingly high mountain and bring before Him all the kingdoms of the earth and the glory of them, will present his temptations to men in a manner to pervert the senses of all who are not shielded by divine power.” The Great Controversy, 554

As the people of God enter the end of all things on this earth, they will proclaim the Sabbath more fully. (See Early Writings, 85.) It is for one reason: the Sabbath is a holy day. It is a continual reminder of the call of God “Ye shall be a holy people unto Me, for I the Lord am Holy.” Leviticus 20:26. The Sabbath separates the Sabbath-keeper in holiness because separation from all iniquity is fundamental to holiness.

Sanctification, the experience of true holiness, was hit hard by the new Theology in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The New Theology, form the perspective I witnessed it from in the seminary, made it clear to me that we had a whole generation of preachers coming out who were going to be moving into the structure, who had the concepts of the New Theology and wanted to take over the church from the inside out. This is what has happened.

This change can be traced back not only to the doctrine regarding the nature of Christ, the nature of sin and righteousness by faith, but to the loss of the concept of personal holiness. When the concept of personal wholeness for God is lost, which is one of the most beautiful concepts in all Scripture, sanctification is gone. For the New Theology, sanctification was just good advice but it was not fundamental to salvation. Only justification was necessary for salvation, and that was only forensic, or “legal only” justification. A person did not want to even think about it too hard, lest works would be involved and the works would violate grace and your salvation would be lost.

The concepts of the New Theology, regarding forensic, or legal only justification, came right out of historical criticism, which Ellen White condemns as being the doctrine of Satan himself. Satan taught it, she says, to the people who advocated it. It denies the inspired dimension of the Bible as being the Word of God, placing it on the level of the common and the profane, which is another attack on holiness, because holiness means a separation from the common and the profane.

We are to sit in heavenly places with Christ. We are going to be a separate people. We must be separate even in the way we think. We will have to be separate even in our presuppositions.

Presuppositions are like glasses. When we wear glasses, the whole world looks different. Every person has presuppositions. This generation, particularly of the young children, is being shaped at the prepositional level. You see, Christianity is an exclusive religion. There is only one true God—the Creator. What does Hinduism teach? Many gods. Pantheism teaches that God is in everything, which is a part of the New Age movement. It is these concepts that are shaping children; concepts that dissolve and diffuse the laser sharp focus of true Christianity that there is one God and one Savior, Jesus Christ—something that is regarded as selfish and bigoted today.

Today, Hindu, new eastern toleration has spread through our society, making the idea of an exclusive truth very unpopular, smacking of bigotry. Suggestions that the papacy must be exposed raise fears that this will offend the ecumenical brother.

Have you ever been termed selfish and unloving because you have principles from the Scriptures that guide you along the narrow path of sanctification and holiness? This has been Satan’s charge since the very beginning. The unyielding purity in the life and cleanness, which is involved in and so fundamental to holiness, leading to separation from all impurity, is a fundamental principle that God’s people must have. This is particularly true as they enter into the final conflict.

What did Paul say the gospel is? It is an offense. It is an offense because it cuts across the grain. That is what it means to lift up your cross and follow Christ. It is offensive to the carnal heart.

The Lord has a message to break up the thought patterns, to break people out of the fog—out of the confusion of Babylon, out of the mold they have been molded in—to carve them out. It is the work of the three angels’ messages to carve a people out, to cleave them out of Babylon. It prepares a separate and distinct people. That is why the doctrine of the nature of the church is so important. It all rests upon these concepts of God’s holiness because God’s holiness demands exclusivity for God. Our soul must be solely God’s; the church must be solely God’s; and all of our affections are to be directed to Him.

In our society today, Satan’s counterfeit for this experience of personal holiness is existentialism. Most people in America do not even know these terms. They are not philosophically oriented like the Europeans are. But this concept of existentialism—the philosophy that God is not actively, personally involved directly in human life, that life is basically absurd and meaningless and meaning can only be found in having an experience—has worked its way into the church through the church growth movement. The concept of the caring church in the church-growth movement rests upon the language of existentialism, and a modified form of existentialism. These concepts are well nigh all persuasive through our society.

The charismatic movement, in reality, rests upon this tenant that holiness can be achieved only through the experience of emotional excitement. Christian existentialism leads to the idea that you have to whip yourself up into an emotional excitement, but Ellen White said that holiness is not rapture; it is the entire surrender of the will and the heart and the entire being to God. We are to worship God in the beauty of holiness.

For the true Christian, holiness is the fundamental attribute of God. It is inherent in His being. It is exercised in his relationship with His creation. It is received by righteousness by faith when the soul makes an entire surrender to the Lord, and thus is wholly the Lord’s.

This concept of holiness, when it is accepted by people and the culture, shapes the culture. This is what makes love in marriage and family wonderful; it is guided by holiness. It is the absence of this concept that has so debased the romantic life of the culture that there is no substance left in the relationship, leading to transitory relationships. As people fail to understand the holiness of God, they are unable to partake of His righteousness through faith, therefore, there is no substance to their love. When there is an understanding of the holiness of God, it completely alters the human race.

Holiness is the great Christian defense. Holiness is the characteristic that protects all of the other attributes communicated by God to the soul through faith. It is God’s holiness that moves Him to protect His people, and when His people abandon holiness they abandon His protection. When, however, they are interested in receiving that holiness by faith, the mighty arm of God is moved to act in their defense and all the power of human will throughout six thousand years of earth’s history is as nothing compared to the mighty will of God, which wills His purity, which wills His holiness, and which acts to defend and protect the integrity of the soul in holiness.

This abandonment of holiness is one reason why our generation has no sense of personal identity, leading them to feel as though they are nothing. They go to the psychiatrist and get even more deeply involved in existentialism and all these philosophies of self, self-help and self-esteem. They do not know who they are because they do not understand holiness.
Holiness is what protects the purity and integrity of the person in the wholeness of their surrender to God. To the extent that our generation has forgotten what holiness is, it has no defense against the demonic influences that are assaulting the souls of people throughout all society.

In order for souls to be saved, they must be renewed in holiness. They must be renewed in and partakers of the holiness of God. They must perfect holiness in the fear of God.

There is the enormous power of omnipotence in holiness. Holiness is the great guardian of liberty and purity, for where the presence of God is, there is liberty, and there is stability. As human relationships are breaking down among the people of God, there is to be a drawing together in holiness, a desiring to communicate holiness to other people and establish them in holiness, which is what true love really is.

“holiness of heart and purity of life was the great subject of the teaching of Christ. In His Sermon on the Mount, after specifying what must be done in order to be blessed, and what must not be done, He says, ‘Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.’ Perfection, holiness, nothing short of this, would give them success in carrying out the principles He had given them.” Testimonies, vol. 2, 445

So, if we would have success in carrying out the principles of the Sermon on the Mount, we must possess holiness by faith in Christ’s righteousness.

“Without this holiness the human heart is selfish, sinful, and vicious. Holiness will lead its possessor to be fruitful and abound in all good works. He will never become weary in well-doing, neither will he look for promotion in this world. He will look forward for promotion to the time when the Majesty of heaven shall exalt the sanctified ones to His throne. Then shall He say unto them: ‘Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.’ The Lord then enumerates the works of self-denial and mercy, compassion and righteousness, which they had wrought. Holiness of heart will produce right actions. It is the absence of spirituality, of holiness, which leads to unrighteous acts, to envy, hatred, jealousy, evil surmisings, and every hateful and abominable sin.” Ibid.

“’No man receives holiness as a birthright, or as a gift from any other human being. Holiness is the gift of God through Christ.” Our High Calling, 214

Overcoming

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Ever since the Second Advent Movement began in the early 1800s, it has been the devil’s purpose to destroy it. During the first 10 years of the 20th Century, it suffered three very powerful attacks, any one of which could have totally brought it to an end.

A study of these attacks reveals certain things that were common to all three. One was from the “holy flesh” movement, which was not considered an attack but was thought to bring in the loud cry.

Then came the development of pantheism, promoted by John Harvey Kellogg. Finally, Elder Ballenger instigated new ideas and new theology with new interpretations of prophecy and the sanctuary.

All three had two things in common. One was a misunderstanding concerning the function and role of the Holy Spirit. In the apostolic church, the Holy Spirit was in charge of the church. The church was not under the control of the apostles or church councils. The record of the first general church council is found in Acts 15:28: “For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things … .”

The New Testament church organization will not work unless the Holy Spirit is in charge. If you study church history, you will find that when the church lost the Holy Spirit, they lost power. When the church recognized that, they sought another way to have power to manage, to control, and to operate. So they sought power from the state.

Ellen White documents that in The Great Controversy, 443: “When the early church became corrupted by departing from the simplicity of the gospel and accepting heathen rites and customs, she lost the Spirit and power of God; and in order to control the consciences of the people, she sought the support of the secular power.”

The church has never gotten back to what the early church had. Ellen White wrote, “Before the final visitation of God’s judgments upon the earth there will be among the people of the Lord such a revival of primitive godliness as has not been witnessed since apostolic times.” Ibid., 464.

The early church, under the control and the direction of the Holy Spirit, had primitive godliness. Our goal today is to be under the direction of that same Spirit.

In Acts 16:6, it says, “Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia.” We read here that plans were made to carry on the work, but the Holy Spirit changed their direction. In order for us to have a revival of primitive godliness that has not been seen since apostolic times, the Holy Spirit must lead. It would be appropriate for all of us to pray, “Lord, we want our family, ourselves, and our church, to be under the direction of the Holy Spirit.”

The “holy flesh” movement believed that when you have the garden experience and receive the Holy Spirit, you will then have holy flesh and no longer have a sinful nature. But that is not true. Ellen White said to the people and to the ministers, “Not a soul of you has holy flesh now. No human being on earth has holy flesh. It is an impossibility.” Selected Messages, Book 2, 32.

Fanaticism abounded in this movement in regard to the function and role of the Holy Spirit. The same is true in regard to pantheism, which holds that since God is everywhere, then God is inside you. The Holy Spirit is in everybody, whether you are saved or not. That is also not true.

Both the holy flesh movement and pantheistic theology had wrong ideas in regard to sanctification. Sometimes people believe that is old hat and not important, but similar beliefs are circulating even today. When my brother, Marshall Grosboll, was alive, he approached a fellow well-known conference pastor privately about what this minister was teaching. This man has written many books which are still today sold in local Adventist Book Centers. He asked his colleague, What was the difference between what he was teaching and holy flesh? The minister replied that the only difference was that the holy flesh movement taught that once you have the experience, then you have it for the rest of your life, but he taught that it has to happen every day. That is holy flesh theology and it is being taught in Seventh-day Adventist colleges to new ministers, and to the largest congregations. The writings are put in the bookstores all over the country and nobody seems to realize that anything is going on. These early false doctrines have had an effect that continue today.

One of the problems is that you can look at an idea from more than one point of view. It is possible to emphasize so much of one aspect that people lose sight of the entire idea.

An example of this was when my wife and I were in southern California and I was attending Loma Linda University. We attended a very large church and as far as I know the pastor was a godly man. However, this pastor only preached about righteousness by faith and specifically, justification by faith. Justification by faith is a true doctrine but after attending this church for some years, I began to wonder when we would hear anything about sanctification. It is not that there was anything wrong with his message, but it was not a complete message. It is possible to look at something, even though it’s true, and place so much emphasis on that, that something else that is very important is lost. Ellen White says it is human nature to go to extremes. So we need to pray and ask the Lord to help us be balanced.

Let’s look at relationships between different things that people think are opposites or that are in some way contradictory.

  1. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CHRIST’S WORK ON THE CROSS AND THE WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

Some emphasize so much our salvation being affected by Christ’s dying on the cross. Even though there would be no salvation if Jesus did not die on the cross, that is not all there is to salvation.

In The Desire of Ages, 671, it says, “The Holy Spirit was the highest of all gifts that He [Christ] could solicit from His Father for the exaltation of His people. The Spirit was to be given as a regenerating agent, and without this the sacrifice of Christ would have been of no avail.”

We are not depreciating the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, which is the foundation of our salvation, but without the Holy Spirit, the sacrifice of Christ would have been of no avail. She says, “The power of evil had been strengthening for centuries, and the submission of men to this satanic captivity was amazing. Sin could be resisted and overcome only through the mighty agency of the Third Person of the Godhead, who would come with no modified energy, but in the fullness of divine power. It is the Spirit [a regenerating agent] that makes effectual what has been wrought out by the world’s Redeemer. It is by the Spirit that the heart is made pure. Through the Spirit the believer becomes a partaker of the divine nature. Christ has given His Spirit as a divine power to overcome all hereditary and cultivated tendencies to evil, and to impress His own character upon His church.” Ibid.

  1. RELATION OF THE LAW AND THE GOSPEL

There are some, such as the Jews, who accept the Old Testament, and not the New Testament. There are other Christians who accept the New Testament, but not the Old Testament.

Many years ago, I was making personal gospel visits as a gospel worker in Chattanooga, Tennessee. At one home I was invited in and had a very interesting visit. I found out that the man I was speaking to was a retired preacher. As we talked, I discovered that he didn’t accept anything in the Old Testament. Not only did he not accept anything in the Old Testament, he didn’t want me to read anything to him in the New Testament before the Book of Acts, because he said, “Before Jesus died on the cross, that was all under the old covenant. That is all for the Jews, and so, all the things Jesus taught doesn’t apply to me now. Just read to me from the Book of Acts and on.” Some of these very same people don’t believe you can understand the Book of Revelation. To them the Bible starts in the Book of Acts and ends before Revelation, leaving only the books in between.

Ellen White wrote about this attitude: “There are those who profess to believe and teach the truths of the Old Testament, while they reject the New. But in refusing to see the teachings of Christ, they show they do not believe that which patriarchs and prophets have spoken. …

“Many who claim to believe and to teach the gospel are in the similar error. They set aside the Old Testament Scriptures of which Christ declared, ‘They are they which testify of Me’ (John 5:39). In rejecting the Old, they virtually reject the New; for both are parts of an inseparable whole. No man can rightly present the law of God without the gospel, or the gospel without the law.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 128. One is incomplete without the other.

  1. JESUS: BOTH LORD AND CHRIST

There are many people today, many Christians, even Adventists, who want to look to Jesus as their Saviour from sin but fail to want Him as the Lord or Ruler of their life. It is critical to understand that Jesus cannot save you if He is not also your Lord. “… if we accept Christ as a Redeemer, we must accept Him as a Ruler. We cannot have the assurance and perfect confiding trust in Christ as our Saviour until we acknowledge Him as our King and are obedient to His commandments.” Faith and Works, 16.

  1. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GOD’S WORK AND MAN’S WORK

Some people will read I Corinthians 1:30, which says, Christ is made unto us, not only righteousness, but “… sanctification and redemption …” and assert that the Lord does everything.

“God has given men faculties and capabilities. God works and cooperates with the gifts He has imparted to man, and man, by being a partaker of the divine nature and doing the work of Christ, may be an overcomer and win eternal life. The Lord does not propose to do the work He has given man powers to do. Man’s part must be done. He must be a laborer together with God, yoking up with Christ, learning His meekness, His lowliness.” Faith and Works, 26.

This has been a huge problem in the Adventist Church. It started with the “holy flesh” people, and it still exists today. It is the idea that all that is necessary to overcome is to read your Bible, pray, and witness. There is nothing wrong with any of these things; in fact, they are essential, but the process of sanctification—overcoming—involves more than that.

God does not intend to do the work that He has given you and me to do. This is illustrated when Jesus was at the tomb of Lazarus, Jesus said, Roll away the stone. This was something that they were capable of doing. Jesus raised Lazarus who was dead, something they could not do. Ellen White comments that there were legions of angels present at that time and Jesus could have asked one of them to roll away the stone which could have been done very easily. The angel that came down from heaven rolled away the stone at the tomb of Christ as if it were a pebble. (See The Desire of Ages, 535.)

  1. FORGIVENESS

You are saved because your sins are forgiven. You cannot be saved if your sins are not forgiven, but you cannot be saved by that alone. Jesus said to Nicodemus that if you are not born of water and the Spirit you are not going to be in the kingdom of heaven (John 3:5). “The religion of Christ means more than the forgiveness of sin; it means taking away our sins, and filling the vacuum with the graces of the Holy Spirit.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 419, 420.

  1. REPENTANCE AND SALVATION

Can I be saved by repentance? Repentance is necessary; it is the first step in the way of salvation. “No repentance is genuine that does not work reformation.” The Desire of Ages, 555. Reformation involves the change of life. “The righteousness of Christ is not a cloak to cover unconfessed and unforsaken sin.” Ibid., 555, 556.

  1. SALVATION “WITHOUT”

In the last 30 to 35 years, it has become very popular to teach that salvation is what Christ does for you “without” that is, apart from anything that you do on your own. That idea is not historic Adventist teaching, but rather has come in with the new theology—that you are saved by justification alone and that salvation comes as a result of what Christ has done for you on the cross.

Now what He has done for you without is important. You cannot be saved without that but that is not enough. It is indeed possible that some Adventist preachers have emphasized too much that it is what happens within, but there must be a balance and belief of the full gift of salvation.

“I call upon everyone who claims to be a son of God never to forget this great truth, that we need the Spirit of God within us in order to reach heaven, and the work of Christ without us in order to give us a title to the immortal inheritance.” Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, 441. You need the Spirit’s work within, and you need what Christ does for you without, in order to have a title to your immortal inheritance.

  1. FAITH AND WORKS

Faith and works. “There are many who fail to understand the relation of faith and works. … genuine faith will be manifest in obedience.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 153. If I have real faith it will be manifested in obedience.

Bible sanctification involves overcoming or conquering sin so that it no longer has power in my life and I am free from sin. This does not happen with God doing it and my not doing anything. It is the work of a lifetime and cannot happen without the Holy Spirit’s power and my cooperation.

What are some things that I should be doing to cooperate with the Holy Spirit so that I can be an overcomer?

  1. ABSTAIN FROM FLESHLY LUSTS

“Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul” (I Peter 2:11). The word “lust” comes from the Greek word epithumia, which means a very strong craving or a strong desire. Usually it is used in the New Testament with a negative connotation, although once in a while the word is used simply to mean a very strong craving. Jesus used this word when He spoke to His disciples in the upper room about His great desire, His epithumia, to eat the Passover supper with them before His crucifixion. He did not have an evil desire to want to eat that last supper with His disciples before He suffered, but he did have a very strong desire to do so.

Though most of the time in the New Testament this word is used with a negative connotation, referring most commonly to appetite and sexual lust, it can also refer to things like anger. Peter said, Watch out and “… abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul.”

Paul said in Romans 12:1: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” In the Old Testament, a sacrifice was to be perfect. Therefore, I am to present my body and my mind in the best possible physical condition.

If I want to be successful in the process of sanctification, I must cooperate with the Holy Spirit. “The controlling power of appetite will prove the ruin of thousands, when, if they had conquered on this point, they would have had moral power to gain the victory over every other temptation of Satan.” Counsels on Diet and Foods, 163–165.

If they had gained the victory on appetite, they would have had moral power to gain the victory over every other temptation. “But those who are slaves to appetite will fail in perfecting Christian character.” Ibid., 163. If I am a slave to my appetite, I can pray all I want to, but I also have a work to do.

“The continual transgression of man for six thousand years has brought sickness, pain, and death as its fruits. And as we near the close of time, Satan’s temptation to indulge appetite will be more powerful and more difficult to overcome.” Ibid., 163, 164.

We are living in that time. Ellen White wrote those words back in about 1875. The temptation is more powerful now because of all the additives that have been put in the food that stimulates you to eat, and also the food is more available than it has ever been before.

A hundred years ago you could not go out at 11 o’clock at night and buy something to eat, but you can now. Many food stores and fast food restaurants are open 24 hours. However, if we are going to overcome sin and perfect a Christian character, we have to gain control of appetite. Remember, the Holy Spirit is not going to work and make it happen if we do not cooperate. We have to do our part and say, Lord, I am choosing to do what You said to do. I am choosing to not overeat, and to avoid eating at improper times. I choose to live in harmony with the laws of my body and I pray that You will help me to have the strength, the moral power, to carry out the decision that I am choosing to follow You.

The Holy Spirit can give you the victory. I personally believe that only the Holy Spirit can give a person the victory over these fleshly lusts that we all have. Peter says, abstain from lust (I Peter 2:11). So, whether it is sexual passions, pornography, or appetite, it is all the same—fleshly lusts. But we must cooperate or the Holy Spirit will not give us the victory.

  1. NEGLECT OF PRAYER

“Temptations often appear irresistible because, through neglect of prayer and the study of the Bible, the tempted one cannot readily remember God’s promises and meet Satan with the Scripture weapons.” The Great Controversy, 600.

When Christ was tempted in the Garden of Gethsemane and God was withdrawing His beams of light from Him, it says in Luke 22:44, “… being in agony, He prayed more earnestly … .” The bigger the problem that you are facing, the more you need to be in prayer.

  1. MEMORIZING SCRIPTURE

You should be memorizing the Bible so that you have spiritual weapons when the devil tempts you. When the devil tempted Jesus, Jesus came back at the devil with Scriptural weapons. “Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against Thee” (Psalm 119:11, literal translation).

  1. SELF-CONTROL OR TEMPERANCE

In I Corinthians 9:24–27, we are told: “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.”

Ellen White wrote, “There is no encouragement given to any of the sons or daughters of Adam that they may become victorious overcomers in the Christian warfare unless they decide to practice temperance in all things.” Testimonies, vol. 4, 35.

That is a decision we have to make. Temperance simply means to abstain from all things that you know are harmful and partake moderately of what is good for you.

  1. FIGHT OF FAITH – RESISTING

“For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin” (Hebrews the 12:3, 4).

Notice, he says, “… You have not yet … .” He doesn’t say you won’t; he just says, You have not done it yet.

It has become popular in some circles to teach that you just sit in the car and ask Christ to be the driver and He will take you to heaven. That is not Bible religion. It is also important to be in the fight and resist sin. The Bible teaches that there is such a thing as the “the fight of faith” (I Timothy 6:12, first part).

Christ resisted unto bloodshed. Luke 22:44 records Jesus when in the Garden of Gethsemane, “His sweat became as great clots of blood, dropping to the ground” (literal translation). Those who have studied physiology and understand how things work in the capillaries know that a hemoglobin molecule is far too big to escape and come out the pores under normal circumstances. But Jesus resisted unto blood. Becoming sanctified and experiencing victory involves being willing to be in the fight, the Christian warfare.

Paul said, Fight the fight (I Timothy 6:12). James said, Resist the devil (James 4:7). The New Testament is full of counsel that you must be willing to be in the holy war. It is a war against sin of every stripe and type. It is a war against every sinful thought, every sinful word, and every sinful action. It is a war that you and I must win if we are going to be in heaven.

All the inhabitants of heaven are going to be overcomers. It is not optional; it is something that is absolutely necessary. Strive to live so that OVERCOMER may be written on your page in the book in heaven.

In Revelation chapters 2 and 3, it is the overcomers in all seven churches that are given the promise of eternal life.

Do not ever think that you have to do it alone. We cannot do anything alone, but the Holy Spirit has all the power needed, even if you are the weakest and most sinful person in the world.

“Or let him take hold of My strength, that he may make peace with Me; and he shall make peace with Me” (Isaiah 27:5).

There is all the power that you need. The Lord has all the power that you need, but it is up for you and me to take hold of it.

(Unless appearing in quoted references or otherwise identified, Bible texts are from the New King James Version.)

Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church of Free Seventh-day Adventists in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by email at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

A Silk Purse from a Sow’s Ear

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A Silk Purse from a Sow’s Ear
By John Pearson

According to Wiktionary (“a collaborative project to produce a free-content multilingual dictionary”), the expression “to make a silk purse from a sow’s ear” means “to produce something refined, admirable, or valuable from something which is unrefined, unpleasant, or of little or no value” (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/make_a_silk_purse_of_a_sow%27s_ear).

Perhaps there is no better way to describe in the common vernacular the work of the Holy Spirit on the human heart.

Indeed, the Bible is replete with expressions of the miraculous transformation of something “of little or no value” into “something refined, admirable, or valuable.” While we fallible humans might view someone steeped in sin as of little or no value, we should be thankful that the Lord knows the heart. Think of the woman taken in adultery, the woman at the well, or even Saul, one of the disciples’ most ardent foes, who was transformed into Paul, one of Christ’s most faithful disciples.

It is important to note that although this transformation is done as a free gift to mankind, one must participate in the effort on a personal level to ensure fitness to receive this gift.

On first examination, this gifting seems to be a bit of a paradox. In temporal life, quite often if someone chooses to present a gift to another, there need not necessarily be any action on the recipient’s part to qualify. However, the plan of salvation is not a birthday party, and diligent effort is indeed required to be fit to receive the gift of salvation.

Without doubt, the promises of salvation are plentiful in God’s word. They are plentiful and they are secure. But they are also conditional. Although God’s love is unconditional—He loves the sinner to the same degree as He loves the saint—His promises are conditional. If we do not fulfill the conditions associated with a given promise, we cannot expect to benefit from that promise.

A favorite promise is the one found in Ezekiel 11:16–21: “Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Although I have cast them far off among the Gentiles, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet I shall be a little sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone.”’ Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “I will gather you from the peoples, assemble you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.”’ “And they will go there, and they will take away all its detestable things and all its abominations from there. Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in My statutes and keep My judgments and do them; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God. But as for those whose hearts follow the desire for their detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their deeds on their own heads,’ says the Lord God.” ’ ”

This promise of a new heart is repeated in Ezekiel 36:22–32: “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name’s sake, which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went. And I will sanctify My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the Lord,” says the Lord God, “when I am hallowed in you before their eyes. For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God. I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses. I will call for the grain and multiply it, and bring no famine upon you. And I will multiply the fruit of your trees and the increase of your fields, so that you need never again bear the reproach of famine among the nations. Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good; and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight, for your iniquities and your abominations. Not for your sake do I do this,” says the Lord God, “let it be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel!” ’ ”

Notice that in both of these passages there is a reason for this action on God’s part.

In Ezekiel 11, it is only those who have separated themselves from detestable things and abominations who are recipients of one heart and a new spirit, the result being that they “walk in My statutes and keep My judgments and do them.”

In Ezekiel 36, the basis of the promise is to uphold the honor of God’s holy name, “which has been profaned among the nations.” Although no specific action on the part of the recipients is stated, it is clear from verses 31 and 32 that the recipients of a “heart of flesh” had been cleansed from all their filthiness and from all their idols through cooperation with God as He did this miraculous work in them.

Remember that in Ezekiel 33:11, God had said, “Say to them: ‘As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’ ”

Clearly, God could not fulfill His promises to Israel until they had met the conditions by turning from their evil ways. Failure to do so could only result in death.

The role that one must play in being fit to receive this wonderful free gift is made evident not only in Scripture, but also in the Spirit of Prophecy.

“Those who are living upon the earth when the intercession of Christ shall cease in the sanctuary above are to stand in the sight of a holy God without a mediator. Their robes must be spotless, their characters must be purified from sin by the blood of sprinkling. Through the grace of God and their own diligent effort they must be conquerors in the battle with evil. While the investigative judgment is going forward in heaven, while the sins of penitent believers are being removed from the sanctuary, there is to be a special work of purification, of putting away of sin, among God’s people upon earth.” The Great Controversy, 425. [Emphasis added.]

The obvious question here is, What “diligent effort” is required on each individual’s part in the “putting away of sin”?

First, we must believe when we repeat David’s prayer for a clean heart and a right spirit that God answers that prayer. We must use that “measure of faith” each has been given to grasp the promise that if we delight ourselves in the Lord, He shall give us the desires of our heart (Psalm 37:4). It should also be understood that our desires must be in accord with His plan of salvation. He certainly is not going to give Satan the desires of his wicked heart.

Then we must understand what our “diligent effort” is to include. When God answers our prayer for a new heart and a right spirit, will we suddenly no longer be tempted by our besetting sin? Would that it were that easy! No. Unfortunately, Satan and his evil agents will continue to bring temptations before us.

Remember that Christ was tempted up until He took His last breath: “And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, ‘You who destroy the temple and build it in three days, save Yourself! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.’ Likewise the chief priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said, ‘He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him’ ” (Matthew 27:39–42).

In answer to our prayer, the Lord does not remove temptations from our pathway, but instead He gives us the power to resist those temptations. Just as Christ, by faith, resisted every effort on Satan’s part to get Him to deny His faith, we are promised that same victory “through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). Remember that God’s people are characterized as “those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus” (Revelation 14:12).

Paul provided what is arguably one of the most encouraging promises in God’s word when he wrote to the Corinthians, “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it” (I Corinthians 10:13).

That “way of escape” that God makes involves the exercise of faith in His promises and availing ourselves of the abundant grace He so freely and generously provides that enable us to resist the efforts of the enemy of souls to dissuade us from the path of truth and righteousness.

When the enemy comes in like a flood, we must have the presence of mind to call upon God, “who performs all things for me” (Psalm 57:2).

Isaiah expressed the same faith in God’s protection and assistance in Isaiah 26:12: “Lord, You will establish peace for us, for You have also done all our works in us.” [Emphasis added.]

Even Jeremiah, often referred to as the prophet of doom or the weeping prophet, understood and wrote a powerful expression of God’s work in our hearts: “They shall be My people, and I will be their God; then I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me forever, for the good of them and their children after them. And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from doing them good; but I will put My fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from Me” (Jeremiah 32:38–40).

Jesus also acknowledged the work that God does to enable us to bear fruit ripe for repentance: “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit” (John 15:2).

Although this pruning process can be unpleasant and even painful, it is a necessary process in shaping one’s character into the image of Christ. Then the transformation from sow’s ear to silk purse will be complete.

One of the most encouraging (if indeed it is possible to rank the wonderful promises in God’s word) is found in Philippians 1:6: “… being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.”

What a glorious day that will be when that small cloud appears in the east and the saints can say in unison, “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for Him; we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation” (Isaiah 25:9).

“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it” (I Thessalonians 5:23, 24).

“Therefore we also pray always for you that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and the work of faith with power, that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thessalonians 1:11, 12).

“But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you” (I Peter 5:10).

“I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus, that you were enriched in everything by Him in all utterance and all knowledge, even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ” (I Corinthians 1:4–8).

“Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen” (Jude 1:24, 25).

All quotes NKJV unless otherwise noted.

John Pearson is the office manager and a board member of Steps to Life. After retiring as chief financial officer for the Grand Canyon Association, Grand Canyon, Arizona, he moved to Wichita, Kansas, to join the Steps team. He may be contacted by email at: johnpearson@stepstolife.org.

Overcoming and Christian Perfection

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I once heard a sermon on the necessity of Christian perfection. There was no argument about the subject or the conclusion that those ready for Jesus to come will experience Christian perfection. However, no good can come from this conclusion without showing how it will be possible. Because of our own imperfections, this subject is a very unpopular topic in the Christian world today and very few Christians would have anything to say about it during their worship.

Christian perfection is biblical. Paul told the church at Colossians, “And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and irreproachable in His sight” (Colossians 1:21, 22). That sounds like a description of Christian perfection, does it not? In verse 28 he adds, “Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.”

There are two general theories regarding Christian perfection. The majority view is that by simply coming to Christ and confessing your sins, the righteousness of Jesus covers you and you are made perfect. However, in reality, that is just the first step in the Christian walk.

Peter understood there was more to it when he said, “… but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, ‘Be holy, for I am holy.’ And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear” (I Peter 1:15–17). There are many Christian theologians and pastors who teach that the judgment is on the basis of your faith but Peter says that it is based on each one’s work, the way you live, which gives evidence of your faith.

Paul said, “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ …” (Ephesians 4:11–15).

This text describes a process which happens over a period of time. In fact, it is the work of a person’s lifetime to become sanctified and fit to be in the presence of sinless beings.

In general, there are six points to achieving Christian perfection, or overcoming our natural sinful nature.

Memorizing Scripture

David said, “Your word I have hidden in my heart [memorized it], that I might not sin against You” (Psalm 119:11). Memorizing scripture allows you to internalize the essence of a text. The Waldenses were encouraged to memorize Scripture and if they were having trouble, to memorize one word each day. In one year over 300 words would be memorized. Some young Waldensians could quote the entire book of Matthew, John and several of the Epistles.

You will never be without words of comfort and will always have an answer to be able to speak a word in season if the promises are in your head. It will bring spiritual power into your life.

Prayer and Fasting

There was a time when the disciples brought a boy that was possessed with the devil and even though they had cast out devils before, they could not cast out this one. When Jesus came down from the mount of transfiguration, He said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me” (Matthew 17:17). After Jesus had cast the devil out His disciples came to him privately and asked why they couldn’t cast him out. Jesus answered in verse 21: “… this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”

There are some sins that will never be overcome without prayer and fasting. Examine your own prayer life to see if you are like Enoch, who talked with the Lord daily. The more he had to do, the more he had to talk to the Lord about.

Prayer and faith are closely related. Mark 9:22 tells the story of the man who brought his mute son to Jesus saying, “… often he [the demon that possessed him] has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” Many people feel hopeless like this father in their struggle to overcome their problems. Jesus told the pleading father, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes” (verse 23).

In Matthew 13:58 it says: “Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief.” Again, the problem is not whether Jesus can work miracles but rather, can you believe? You may be the weakest, most sinful person around and may have been in the bondage of sin your whole life, but you can be delivered if you believe. “Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, ‘Lord, I believe; help my [struggle with] unbelief’ ” (Mark 9:24)!

Ellen White’s comment on that verse is very encouraging:

“You can never perish while you do this—never.” The Desire of Ages, 429.

Fight

“You have not yet resisted unto bloodshed, striving against sin” (Hebrews 12:4). James says in James 4:7, “Resist the devil. …” When temptations come, put up a fight and claim the victory.

Luke 22–23 describes Jesus’ battle in the Garden of Gethsemane where His sweat was like great clots of blood falling on the ground. Truly He fought a hard battle as He “resisted unto bloodshed.”

While in college, one of my besetments was eating donuts. The sweet smell from the college bakery spilled clear out onto the sidewalk, luring me in as I walked past. I would buy a sack of donuts and have them all eaten before I got back to my room. Finally, I determined that the wise thing to do was to avoid walking past the bakery and stay away from the temptation.

Similarly, if your problem is alcohol, do not go and visit with people in the tavern. If pornography, videos, television programs or Internet is your problem, you may need to find a mentor to keep you accountable. Jesus said to pray, “… lead us not into temptation” (Matthew 6:13 KJV). Often you can walk into temptation by not using good judgment.

Practice Health Reform

Paul said, “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things” (I Corinthians 9:24).

The word temperate means exercising self-restraint. Paul continues, “Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air, But I discipline my body …” (verses 25–27). The language he uses is stronger than anything I know how to say in English. He says, I keep my body under control. I control my eating, my drinking, my sleeping, my exercise and every area of life; I am under control.

Witnessing

Share your faith with those around you. Revelation 12:11 says, “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.”

When Jesus left this earth, He said to His disciples, “You are My witnesses. You are to bear testimony. You are to bear witness for Me.” You have not been called to be salesmen but witnesses of what you have seen and know.

Praise God

The last part of Nehemiah 8:10 says, “Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

“To praise God in fullness and sincerity of heart is as much a duty as is prayer. We are to show to the world and to all the heavenly intelligences that we appreciate the wonderful love of God for fallen humanity and that we are expecting larger and yet larger blessings from His infinite fullness. Far more than we do, we need to speak of the precious chapters in our experience. After a special outpouring of the Holy Spirit, our joy in the Lord and our efficiency in His service would be greatly increased by recounting His goodness and His wonderful works in behalf of His children.

“These exercises drive back the power of Satan. They expel the spirit of murmuring and complaint, and the tempter loses ground.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 299, 300.

Satan will lose ground in the family where praise services are held and the joy of the Lord is your strength.

There are many who have been endeavoring to put these principles into practice for many years. They are trying to practice health reform, memorizing Scripture and praying. Yet they are perplexed that they are still struggling to overcome sin. It is easy to slip off the path of truth and become like the Pharisees who tried to work out their own salvation by their good works.

“Also He [Jesus] spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself. ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’

“And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 18:9–14).

There are several points about the Pharisee who went up to pray:

  1. He was full of self-praise, saying, “Oh, I am so thankful that I am not like other people.” He looks it. He walks it. He even prays it.
  2. He draws apart from others because he is better than they are. His body language is like the person talked about in Isaiah 65:5 which says, “… Do not come near to me, for I am holier than you!” And so, it says, “The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself. …”
  3. The Pharisee felt, “Well, I’m OK, whether you are or not.” He prayed a prayer of thanksgiving to the Lord that he was not an extortioner [a person who takes from others by force, duress, menaces, threats, insubordination, authority, or by any undue exercise of power] like other men—unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector.”
  4. Instead of comparing his own character with the character of God, he judges himself against the character of other men. As a result, his mind is turned away from God to other people. He becomes self-satisfied, figuring that he is better than others. If I compare myself to you, then the worse you are, the better I look.
  5. He then begins to recount his good deeds. He says, “I fast twice a week …” Not only does he fast twice a week, but he gives tithes – plural. He is giving twenty or more percent of his income, to the church; so he figures that he is in good shape.

The problem is that this man’s religion does not touch his actual soul. It is not a matter of his heart. It is merely something he does, going through all the motions on the outside. He is not seeking for godliness of character. He is not seeking to have a heart that is filled with love and mercy. He is satisfied with a religion that has totally only to do with his outward life. And his outward life looks really good.

The apostle Paul could relate to that experience. He said, “If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless” (Philippians 3:4–6).

The righteousness of this Pharisee was the fruit of his own works and judged by a human standard. Because he trusts in himself for righteousness, he does what everybody does who trusts in their own righteousness. He despises others.

As he judges himself by other men, so he judges other men by himself, and his righteousness is estimated by theirs. The worse they are, the better he looks. Then his self-righteousness leads him to begin accusing, “I am glad I am not even like this tax collector.”

The Bible identifies the accuser of the brethren as Satan. In Revelation 12:10 KJV we are told: “… for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.”

If my religion leads me to become an accuser, a fault-finder, it is a Satanic religion. We must be careful not to develop the spirit of Satan, which will make it impossible to enter into communion with God. So, Jesus said that man in the parable went down to his house the same way he came in. Those with a similar attitude today go to church and leave again in the same condition they arrived in, with no improvement whatsoever.

The Pharisee went off by himself thinking he was better than everybody else. The tax collector went off by himself because he thought he was worse than everybody else. He did not mingle with the worshipers, because he didn’t feel worthy to unite with them in their devotions. It says he stood “afar off, would not so much as lift up his eyes toward heaven, but beat his breast” (Luke 18:13, literal translation). He considered himself a terrible sinner. He was in bitter anguish and abhorred himself with the knowledge that he was sinful and polluted from the evil things that he had done.

In Jesus’ day, the worst thing a woman could do was to be a prostitute or a harlot and the worst thing a man could do was be a tax collector for the Roman government. This tax collector was at the bottom. Other people would not even associate with him and he knew not to expect pity from anybody around him. He was looked upon with contempt and he knew that he had no merit in himself to present to God.

That experience is the only way a person can be saved when they come to God.

“Our only hope is perfect trust in the blood of Him who can save to the uttermost all that come unto God by Him. The death of Christ on the cross of Calvary is our only hope in this world, and it will be our theme in the world to come. Oh, we do not comprehend the value of the atonement! If we did, we would talk more about it. … It is the greatest subject that can engage the human mind. If men would contemplate the love of Christ, displayed in the cross, their faith would be strengthened to appropriate the merits of his shed blood, and they would be cleansed and saved from sin.” The Signs of the Times, December 30, 1889.

The tax collector understood one vital thing: he possessed no merit and no goodness whatsoever in himself. His only chance that anything good could happen to him was if God had mercy upon him, which was his only request. His heart’s desire was to be pardoned.

Jesus said, “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified … .”

What does this have to do with overcoming for those who think they cannot overcome and have tried everything? Ellen White says, “But we must have a knowledge of ourselves, a knowledge that will result in contrition, before we can find pardon and peace. The Pharisee felt no conviction of sin. The Holy Spirit could not work with him.” Christ’s Object Lessons, 158.

Why was this so? He was self-righteous. He did not need anybody else’s righteousness, because he had his own. The trouble is, “We are all an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6, literal translation).

Jesus said, “They that are whole do not need a physician” (Matthew 9:12, literal translation). If you do not realize your need, the Lord will not be able to help you.

The patient that the physician cannot help is the one who thinks that everything is okay. He refuses to follow advice, take medicine or do anything because he does not think he is sick. The same applies to spiritual matters. “We must know our true condition, or we shall not feel our need of Christ’s help. We must understand our danger, or we shall not flee to the refuge. We must feel the pain of our wounds, or we shall not desire healing.” The Signs of the Times, April 9, 1902.

The spirit of Phariseeism is the spirit of the Laodicean church. (See Revelation 3:14–22.)

“We must behold Christ. It is ignorance of Him that makes men so uplifted in their own righteousness. When we contemplate His purity and excellence, we shall see our own weakness and poverty and defects as they really are. We shall see ourselves lost and hopeless … .” Christ’s Object Lessons, 159.

When you realize your hopeless condition, you are ready to recognize that you cannot save yourself. There is nothing you can do. You cannot memorize enough Scripture to save yourself, or pray enough, or witness enough, give enough, or practice health reform enough. You cannot perfectly overcome by doing everything you know; you are hopeless without the Lord working a divine miracle inside.

When you come to that realization, then you know of your need to renounce self. “But no man can empty himself of self. We can only consent for Christ to accomplish the work. Then the language of the soul will be, Lord, take my heart; for I cannot give it. It is Thy property. Keep it pure, for I cannot keep it for Thee. Save me in spite of myself, my weak, unchristlike self. Mold me, fashion me, raise me into a pure and holy atmosphere, where the rich current of Thy love can flow through my soul.” Ibid.

Ask the Lord to keep your heart pure because you cannot keep it. Give the Lord permission to do everything that needs to be done in your life. When you are lifted into the pure and holy atmosphere where the current of Christ’s love can fall on your soul, it will change everything. Renunciation of self is to be made at every advance step heavenward.

The story of the publican and the tax collector contains the secret for overcoming for those who think it is impossible having tried everything else. The secret is not something you can do for yourself. It is something that only the Lord can do for you when you recognize your need and ask for His help.

(Unless appearing in quoted references or otherwise identified, Bible texts are from the New King James Version.)

Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church of Free Seventh-day Adventists in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by email at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

The Sanctuary Made Simple – Chapter 7

by Lawrence M. Nelson

The Sanctuary Made Simple bookChapter Seven – Christ The Answer

As we have pointed out in our study, once a year, the earthly sanctuary was to be cleansed. The day on which this event took place was called the Day of Atonement. It was a great and solemn day for the children of Israel. It was particularly holy also, for no one was permitted to do any work on this day. It was the keystone of the sacrificial system. Any man, woman, or child who did not make the needed preparation in afflicting his soul, making sure that his every sin had been taken into the sanctuary and separated from him, was to be cut off from the people of Israel. We read of this in Leviticus 23:29, “For whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people.” And so the Day of Atonement was a solemn occasion, for everyone had to examine himself to make sure that every sin in his life had been carried within the sanctuary.

In a short review, let us quickly enumerate once more the steps by which sin was separated from the sinner, and carried into the sanctuary. You remember, first the sinner must experience true contrition and repentance, represented by bringing a specified animal for sacrifice to the door of the tabernacle. There, he placed his hands upon its head, and confessed his sin, thus transferring his sin to the lamb. Then, with his own hand, he had to take a knife and slay the victim, for the innocent victim must die for his sins. Next, the priest would bring a bowl and take of the blood from the Iamb, which now in type carried the sin, which he then brought within the sanctuary, and sprinkled it upon the veil. In this way, the man’s sin was forgiven, and transferred into the sanctuary. You can readily see that during the year, with a great number of people, that there was an enormous accumulation of sin within the tabernacle. But once a year, God purposed that these sins would be removed from the sanctuary by a cleansing process. In our last study, we learned that the priest would take the blood of the sin offering, and enter within the most holy, and there sprinkle the blood upon the mercy seat. Thus signifying that the terms of the broken law had been satisfied. Then, symbolically, he would gather the sins and take them out of the sanctuary, and place them all upon the head of the scapegoat, which would be led away from the camp of Israel into the wilderness to die. In this manner, the sanctuary was cleansed on the great Day of Atonement.

We have discovered that the Lord Jesus Christ entered the heavenly sanctuary’s most holy place within the veil in October 1844, to conduct a final atonement process in the heavenly sanctuary since that date. This has been taking place for over 150 years now, and this work, I believe, will soon be finished. Any individual who has not made sure that every sin is confessed and forgiven will be separated forever from God when the final act of atonement is made; for Jesus will stand up and declare, “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and He that is filthy, let him be filthy still, and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still” Revelation 22:11. Our only hope is in Jesus Christ’s power to enable a sinner to overcome sin. Thus Christ is the only answer to the sin problem.

But, today Satan is spreading abroad a new philosophy which is completely contrary to the sanctuary services and its teaching. He is leading men to think that their sin will be winked at by God, or will not be discovered before Jesus comes. ln Numbers 32:23, we are admonished with words that would be well to ponder, “Behold, ye have sinned against the Lord: and be sure your sin will find you out.”

Some years ago, a traveling newspaper correspondent observed a man carrying an old cane with some peculiar carvings on it. He thought very little of it, until two months later he was in the same vicinity and learned that an elderly man and his wife had been beaten to death. No one seemed to know why the murders had been committed, for the elderly couple had been loved by all. This man and his wife had been beaten to death with some kind of a stick. The correspondent went to the authorities, and gave them a description of the man he had seen with a strange looking cane. Six months later, the police found the man and brought him to justice. The judge was seated, the jury chosen, but the man had an alibi for every indictment. It seemed that the court couldn’t prove a thing against him. The judge was actually beginning to believe that maybe they had the wrong man, and the jury felt likewise. Until, the door of the courtroom opened and the newspaper correspondent walked down the aisle, in his hand he carried the blood-stained cane that he had found in the woods near the victim’s home. When the man who was accused of this brutal slaying saw the cane, his face suddenly turned white, and he began to tremble. Then everyone in the courtroom knew that he was guilty . . . be sure your sin will find you out!

There are many today who think that they can give a reasonable answer as to why they don’t surrender their sins to Jesus, and ask Him to plead their case before God. These individuals are also able to convince their pastors that they are pretty good and they are headed for the kingdom. But, God knows! And there are wives who deceive their husbands, leading them to think that they have been true to their marriage vows; but God knows! And there are some sons and daughters who convince their parents that they are just about perfect; but God knows! Some even have the ability to convince themselves that they are quite religious, and somehow will be saved when Jesus comes; but God knows! The Lord declares, “Shall not God search this out? For he knoweth the secrets of the heart.” Psalm 44:21.

Let’s bring this closer home to us as individuals. Imagine with me that there is a certain young man who has a wife and two children. This young man–we’ll call him Jim–is a good looking fellow; he has an excellent job and is a fine citizen. He pays his taxes, is well thought of in the community, he may even go to church. But, all the time he is under the conviction that he should come to Jesus and confess his sins, so he can be cleansed with His blood. However, Jim never gets around to doing what he knows he ought to do. Why? Well, maybe it is the Sabbath. He knows that the Bible teaches that the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord his God. He knows that it’s a part of the divine law and he should keep it. But, there is a problem, maybe it just isn’t convenient to honor God’s day. Maybe he is having a struggle over returning tithe to God. He knows that ten percent of his income belongs to the Lord. Jim has so many blessings, a beautiful wife and two little girls, a car, a lovely home, but he also wants many other things. He feels he just can’t afford to pay tithe; or so he thinks. Maybe he has a problem with some secret bad habit, like smoking, or having an occasional drink with the boys after work. He doesn’t think anybody knows about this, but you see, God knows! Or it could be the love of some pleasure that in his heart he knows is contrary to God, but he just can’t seem to give it up. Perhaps the real issue in his mind is that he has never been baptized. He knows what God’s word says in John 3:5, “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” But he has continued to put it off. The issue here is–a young man with sin in his life.

Now, let us suppose that one day something happens that Jim didn’t plan on. He might have been thinking deeply about his work, and without looking, he starts across the street. Suddenly he is hit by a car, and his life is instantly snuffed out! The funeral is held in the church which is filled to capacity with many of his friends. The pastor, thinking that Jim was ready for the kingdom, presents a wonderful eulogy; but what do you think? Can God accept this young man? Can Jim, now dead, do anything to correct his faulty, sinful record left on the books of heaven? What does God say about our condition when we are dead? For “the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they anymore a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun. . . . Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.” Ecclesiastes 9:5, 6, 10.

The word of God has made it very clear that since Jim is dead he cannot do anything to correct his past mistakes. He’s dead, he’s buried; but is this the end? Oh, no! We read in God’s word that this man must now be judged. In the book of Hebrews 9:27, are these words: “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.”

Now we have arrived at the crucial issue having to do with the judgment and the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary.

In the autumn of 1844, when Jesus Christ stepped in before the throne of God within the most holy place the judgment proceedings began. There are no words in the Bible that are more striking than those describing this judgment scene. “I beheld till the thrones were cast down (placed) and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.” Daniel 7:9, 10.

Consider what happened when this great court of God convened in heaven in the year 1844. The first case would be that of Abel, who had been murdered by his brother Cain, for he was the first man to die in this world. Abel was a sinner, for–“all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23. Yet, he believed in the Savior, and did as God had required. He took a Iamb and confessed his sins over it transferring them to the Iamb, and then with his own hand, he slew the sacrifice. When the books were opened, in which were recorded the sins of Abel, Jesus Christ was standing before God, pleading for Abel. “I have covered his sins with my blood. I want him to live in heaven with us.” God looks at Jesus, and then speaks those wonderful words: “Retain his name in the Book of Life.”

Next case, . . .we don’t know whose name came up next, but eventually Cain died and let us suppose that his name came up next. Was Cain a religious man? You would hardly think so, since the Bible says he murdered his brother. But, look a little closer. You will find that indeed he was quite a religious man. Cain thought himself righteous and came to God with a thank offering. Only he made no confession of sin. Instead of bringing a lamb for a sacrifice for his sins, he decided that he would go out to his garden and dig up some vegetables for his sacrifice. He built an altar, and placed the fruit of his labor upon the altar as an offering. Then he knelt down and prayed, asking God to accept his offering. But, God would not accept this substitute for sin. No one can ever earn salvation by his self righteousness. Remember the words of Hebrews 9:22, “Without the shedding of blood is no remission.” Cain presumed upon God’s mercy and grace. He did not bring a sacrificial lamb, representing Christ. And God will never accept a counterfeit. Since God would not accept his counterfeit sacrifice Cain became so angry that he killed his brother, Abel. All this is recorded in the books of heaven. As the books were opened and the record was revealed, could Jesus stand up as Cain’s advocate? As far as we know, He could not. There is nothing in the Bible to indicate that Cain ever accepted Jesus. He did not obey the requirements of Christ as outlined in the sacrificial system of the sanctuary. Can you imagine the sorrow of Jesus as God says, “Put Cain’s name in the book of death.”

And so, the judgment goes on for all people who ever lived on this earth. Everyone is judged according to the records in the books of heaven. Each individual is accepted or rejected as determined by the answer to one question: Has the blood of Christ covered his/her sins?

Now let’s go back to the funeral of this young man, Jim, who was killed by an automobile. A person may live a fairly good life, but not obey God in his daily living. What happens to him in the judgment? Did Christ do everything for Jim that he might be saved? Watch Jesus as He points to the nail prints in His hands, and to the wound in His side, and then says, ‘Father, I gave my life for that young man. Father, I died on Calvary, what more could I have done for him? But, he would not obey; he would not accept my sacrifice as provided. Therefore, I cannot cover his sins with my blood.” Slowly, but surely God says, “Put his name in the book of death.”

Am I making this too real? The sanctuary services are simple to understand. Friend, this is exactly what is going on in the heavenly sanctuary today. The cleansing of the sanctuary in heaven is real!

“Soon, none know how soon, the judgment will pass to the living.” Great Controversy, 1888 Edition, pg. 490.

lt makes us think seriously, doesn’t it? Are we ready for our names to come up before God?

There is more to the story of Jim’s experience even though his name was blotted out of the book of life. This is not the end for Jim as we shall see.

When Jesus comes the second time a resurrection will take place. “The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” I Thessalonians 4:16, 17. In this first resurrection, when Jesus returns to this earth, Jim will not come forth from his grave. Only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life will be raised in the first resurrection.

Now, what about Jim’s family? Let’s say that as time went on, his wife and daughters lived faithfully; keeping the commandments of God, making sure every sin was confessed and covered by the blood of Jesus until the day they, too, went into the grave. When Jesus comes in the clouds with ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands of angels, He looks upon the graves of His sleeping saints and calls for the righteous to come forth. This mother and daughters will come out of their graves clothed in immortality. No doubt, Jim’s wife will look around for her husband, and the girls will be looking for dad. When they see that his grave beside theirs has not been opened, tears fill their eyes, but God says that He shall wipe away all tears. Then with overwhelming joy they are lifted up by the angels to meet the Lord in the air and taken to heaven where they will spend the next one thousand years. “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.” Revelation 20:6.

But, what about Jim–where is he–what will happen to him? Regarding the second resurrection, Revelation 20:5 says, “But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.” At the end of the thousand years, Jesus is going to come back to this earth the third time with all His living saints, and He will also bring with him that great city, the New Jerusalem. As Jesus descends to the earth, the second resurrection of the dead takes place. It is the resurrection of the wicked. The Bible speaks of them as the sands of the seashore, or humanly speaking, they are without number! These still have the same spirit of rebellion and resistance to God’s requirements as they had while living on the earth.

Picture with me, Jim, as he comes forth in this final resurrection. He looks around, and sees the city of God, the New Jerusalem. He is troubled, and says, “That’s strange, this isn’t like what I used to read in my Bible.” and then, he sees the wicked of all ages milling around, what a sight! Something is wrong. Then he remembers that he did not obey God, and follow Christ in the way of salvation as taught in the sanctuary service. He did not repent and confess his sins. He did not transfer his sins to Jesus and accept His death for his sins. He did not allow Christ to take his sins into the sanctuary, and separate those sins from his sinful heart.

Therefore, Christ was unable to be his advocate before God. Christ would have gladly covered his sins with His blood and blotted them out. So the scripture is finally fulfilled, “Be sure your sins will find you out,” as fire comes down from God out of heaven, and devours Jim with his unforgiven sins.

But this need never happen to you or me–not when Christ has provided such a wonderful way of escape. Remember, there is no one in this world who has gone too far in the depths of sin but Jesus can forgive and save. Isaiah tell us, “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Isaiah 1:18. There is hope for every one of us. “Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.” Hebrews 7:25.

Yes! Jesus is the answer. He alone can save us. In His righteousness He can present your case before the Father, and He can pronounce you as one who has never sinned. This may sound too good to be real, but it is true. Do not hesitate–come boldly to Jesus. The Savior will make an atonement for you and be your personal Advocate. Remember, Christ is the answer to all your sins and to all your needs.

End

How to Quit Smoking

by Dr. John J. Grosboll

How to Quit SmokingHave you ever tried to stop smoking? You may have had temporary success before, but now has your habit returned, leaving you frustrated? Are you reading this booklet in quiet desperation wondering whether it will be able to do for you what nobody else has been able to do?

Are you apprehensive that trying again and failing will simply weaken your will power and sense of self- worth even more, so that it seems dangerous for you even to keep reading?

WOULD YOU TRY AGAIN TO QUIT SMOKING IF YOU KNEW OF A WAY THAT WAS FAIL-PROOF?

There is such a method. The really good news is that this method can be followed not only by average men and women but even the weak. Those who have apparently been failures all of their lives can gain lasting success, permanent freedom from tobacco and a sense of dignity and value never before experienced.

The author has helped others who were heavy smokers for decades, to experience this success and has not found one person in more than twenty years who has followed all of the principles of the method now to be explained without permanent success.

This method is not based on anything mystical but rather on thoroughly researched scientific laws which govern the body and the mind. There are not only physical laws in the universe but also mental or spiritual laws, and if you know what these laws are and are willing to obey them, your success is absolutely certain.

Before we explain what you need to know and do, however, we need to investigate three important questions:

  1. Why did you start smoking?
  2. Why is it so hard to quit?
  3. Why do you want to quit?

WHY YOU STARTED

You need to know something about why you began to smoke because if those motivations still exist, they will make it harder for you to quit. A common time to start smoking is twelve years of age. This is a time when a child is seeking adult status in the world. Because of the example of his older peers or adults whom he knows, smoking often has seemed to be a way to become more “grown- up.” People who were role models for you may have been a large part of this influence. Your subconscious mind accepted the constant input from advertising and the example of others that there was a real benefit to smoking. This is a lie. Smoking does not make you more mature, smarter or in any way better or more attractive. In fact, it does just the opposite.

Smoking causes constriction of blood vessels and at the same time lowers the oxygen delivering capacity of the blood. This reduces the delivery of oxygen to the brain as well as other vital organs of the body. Habitual smoking causes you to appear elderly faster and decreases your beauty and attractiveness. It does not improve you mentally or physically. Smoking weakens the body so that the smoker has less endurance, higher mortality and more sickness.

Diseases which are especially increased by smoking include the following: lung cancer and cancers of other parts of the respiratory system; cancer in the urinary bladder, the pancreas and the kidney; heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke and other vascular diseases; emphysema, chronic bronchitis, peptic ulcers; various mouth disorders such as tooth loss, jawbone deterioration, inflamed gums, and pyorrhea and oral inflammations. Smokers are absent from work more often and have more headaches and coughs than non- smokers.

ESPECIALLY FOR WOMEN

For women, smoking presents shocking hazards. Smoking mothers have more premature babies, more stillbirths and miscarriages, and more babies who die a short time after birth. Babies born to smoking mothers have more congenital abnormalities. A woman who smokes and takes oral contraceptives containing estrogen increases her chances of a heart attack several times.

In addition to all of this, smoking decreases your ability to experience pleasure— for example, it decreases taste sensitivity so that you have less capacity to enjoy food. Your ability to experience pleasure is based on your sensitivity, and this is lessened by all narcotics.

SO WHY IS IT SO HARD TO QUIT?

Nicotine causes addiction. After a person is addicted to nicotine by habitual smoking, to cease smoking produces physical symptoms. Symptoms which habitual smokers experience when they stop smoking include irritability, muscle pain, headache, nausea, inability to sleep and jittery nerves. These symptoms are not imaginary because when you quit smoking, measurable physiological changes occur, such as changes in heart rate, blood pressure and in the electrical waves of the brain. Withdrawal symptoms, however, are not the only reason that it is difficult to quit smoking.

A number of social and psychological habits are often intertwined with the smoking habit. Smoking has often become associated with every major event of the day. For example, a smoker often takes out a cigarette every time he has a cup of coffee. An important business decision or meeting is often associated with a smoke. A change of pace, such as getting in a car to drive to work or sitting down to relax, is often associated with a smoke. So, every major start or stop or pressure or change of pace during the day is often associated with smoking. But even these are not all of the reasons that it is hard to quit smoking.

Smoking is also a physical habit. The hand reaches for the pack and a cigarette is retrieved. It is placed in the mouth and a lighting device is ignited. The inhale to kindle the end is accompanied by the fondling of the cigarette by the lips and later the playing with it by the hand. Later, ashes are flicked out, and finally, it is stamped out. These activities become deeply ingrained habits which the habitual smoker has repeated many thousands of times. Since smoking is an all- pervasive habit which has chemical, physical and mental or spiritual components, any rational attempt to quit must have an attack plan which includes physical, chemical and spiritual components.

WHY DO YOU WANT TO QUIT?

Since smoking is an all-pervasive habit having physical, chemical and spiritual components, the reasons why you want to quit are often the determining factors as to whether or not you will be permanently successful. You probably do not have the appropriate motivation right now to quit smoking permanently. If your motivation had been perfect, you would have been successful before and would not be reading this. Do not worry about that. One of the major purposes of this booklet is to help you acquire the proper motivation through a series of tested techniques. The result will be that you will acquire a power that most smokers desiring to quit have never experienced.

HOW TO GET STARTED

The first thing to know about how to quit smoking is that you need help, and the second thing to know is that all of the help in the universe will not give you victory without your determined, persistent effort.

We will study the first thing first— how you can get help to quit smoking.

HOW TO GET HELP TO BE FREE FROM TOBACCO

It was not long before midnight on April 14, 1912. The ocean liner Californian was on its way to Boston from London. As Charles Groves, the ship’s third officer, sat on the top deck, he saw, several miles away, the lights of another ship speeding westward. As this ship was rapidly passing his own, he saw a splendid burst of lights, revealing a large passenger liner. Suddenly, however, it seemed that the big ship stopped and put out most of her lights. It did not occur to him that perhaps the lights were still on but only appeared to go out because the ship was no longer broadside but had swerved sharply to the left.

That night, when help was near, over fifteen hundred people lost their lives in one of the worst ship disasters of history because of no communication. Help was near, but there was no communication. So, when the Titanic went down, nobody was there to help.

DROWNING WITHIN REACH OF HELP

There are millions of people today who have a problem with tobacco and are ready to sink. Many are sinking in an abyss of smoke while help is available. What if a man was drowning and when a life buoy was thrown to him he refused to take it because he did not know if the rope or the buoy or the rescuer were trustworthy. He has no confidence, no faith. That man will drown because he cannot save himself and he is unwilling to accept outside help.

The man who is drowning must choose to believe in the person who is out to save him. If he believes and if he acts on that belief by taking hold of the help that is made available, he will be delivered. He will be saved. The tragedy is that there are so many people whose bodies are drowning in an ocean of smoke who will not ask for or accept the help that is available.

HELP IS AVAILABLE!

Wonderful help is available. Through an ancient prophet, God says, Call unto Me and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know (Jeremiah 33: 3).

And through the apostle Paul, God declares that He is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we can ask or even think (Ephesians 3: 20). So, outside help is available. There is powerful help available, and many millions of people have found in this outside help the answer to the problem of self- control. Your nature may be so weakened through continual indulgence of wrong habits that it is impossible for you in your own strength to resist the craving for nicotine. You may be literally a slave to tobacco, but nonetheless, there is help available for you.

HOW CAN YOU GET THIS HELP?

1. Ask.

Acknowledge that you have a problem for which you need divine help, and ask for divine help. Jesus said, Ask, and you will receive. Everyone who asks receives (Matthew 7: 7).

2. Make a commitment.

God does not force the will of any human being. He does not want blind submission or unreasoning control. God does not use force. In order for Him to deliver you from the slavery of tobacco, you must be willing to make a commitment— choose to yield your will to Him so that a change can be worked out in your life.

3. Surrender your will to Him.

A lot of people in our world are do- it- yourselves. There are some things that we apparently can do ourselves. However, if you have found that you cannot stop smoking by yourself, you need to surrender your will to God in order to receive the divine help that will set you free from the slavery of bad habits.

Although you will find it a struggle to do this, surrendering your will to Him is vital if you are to have permanent success. To surrender the will to God means to accept Him to be our Lord and Master in all things, to acknowledge ourselves to be His servants, ready always to yield obedience to His commands. You can do it if you choose to. The surrender of your will to God’s will, moment by moment, is the vital key to success.

4. Are you in earnest?

God has promised, you will seek Me and find Me when you shall search for Me with all your heart (Jeremiah 29: 13). If that is your decision, there is no question that a divine miracle is going to take place in your life to give you victory over tobacco. You are on your way to fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore (Psalm 16: 11).

5. Exercise your power of choice.

You may have decided that you are weak in moral power. You may consider yourself a victim of doubt. Your life may seem to be continually controlled by your past when you were constantly losing self- control and smoking. The resolutions that you made on New Year’s day may have fallen apart immediately. It may seem to you that it is impossible for you to control your thoughts, and by yourself, this is true. Your habit of smoking, your passionate craving for nicotine, your affection for this vice may be humanly uncontrollable. The knowledge of this causes you to have feelings of despair. There is a way out, however. What is that way out? The way out depends on your power of decision or choice.

You cannot change your heart or your affections for your past habits or your passionate cravings for nicotine. You cannot change your impulses, but you can make a decision. You can choose to yield your will to divine power. If you do this, divine power will work in you, and your nature will be brought under the control of a divine spirit. A change will occur in your affections and in your thoughts, giving you power to be free from tobacco.

The Scripture says, If anyone destroys the temple of God, him will God destroy, for the temple of God is holy, which temple you are (I Corinthians 3: 17). If you have decided to make a decision to live a life that is pure— free from the defilement of tobacco— here is what to pray: “Father in heaven, I choose to surrender my will and all lam to You. I choose to seek You with all of my heart and live by every word that comes out of Your mouth. I choose to live a healthy life and not destroy myself with tobacco. Please help me, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.” Over and over throughout the day, you should breath this prayer to God— “Father, I choose to live a healthy life and not defile myself with tobacco. Please help me as You have promised, for I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.”

6. Why many fail to receive help.

It is fine to have desires to do the right thing, but if you stop there, nothing will happen. Millions of people are hoping and desiring to quit smoking, but they do not come to the point of yielding their will to a divine influence. They do not make a decision to yield their will to divine power.

If you exercise your will and make a decision, make a commitment to God about your smoking problem, you are going to experience divine strength in your life which will hold you steadfast. If you constantly yield your will to this divine power, you will be enabled to live a new life, a life of self- control, a life in which you will be in control of your thoughts, your affections, your cravings, your impulses and your past smoking habit. All of this is possible to you if you make a decision to yield your will to divine power.

God is interested above all things that you may prosper in all things and be in health (III John 2). If you acknowledge your condition and yield your will to Him, if you make a total commitment (full surrender) to this divine influence, God will fulfill His promise to you. He will supply the fact. He will make you whole in your spirit. It is so, if you believe it. Do not wait to feel that the miracle has happened, but believe it, because God has promised.

WHAT TO DO EVERY DAY

Now that you have come for divine help, do not draw back and take yourself away from the divine influence. Every day say, “I have yielded my will to Christ. I have surrendered my smoking problem to Him.” Then say to Him, “Please give to me Your Spirit, grace and power to live this new life. “It is as you continually give yourself to Him and believe in Him that a divine miracle takes place in your life. This is a miracle of self- control, of victory over your affection and craving for tobacco and nicotine.

THE NEW YOU

This is a miracle which no human eye can see but which you can experience. It is so exciting, the apostle Paul expressed it as being made into a new creature. He said, Old things have passed away, ail things are become new (II Corinthians 5: 17). Every thought, every word, every action is purified and brought into subjection to the righteous will of Christ. (See II Corinthians 10: 4,5; Ephesians 4: 28- 32; Romans 1:16,17.)

THE NEW RELATIONSHIP

A change is seen in our habits. We develop an emotional attachment for the One who has saved us from these bad habits which had fettered chains around us that we could not break. We begin to learn the meaning of the statement in the Bible where the apostle said that we love Him because He first loved us (I John 4: 19).

There are people who were smokers who never realized how personal and how individual God’s love was until they found out that God was interested in helping them solve their problem with tobacco.

DO NOT GO BACK TO TRYING BY YOURSELF.

There are two erroneous ideas against which we need to especially guard ourselves after asking for divine help. The first is the philosophy that we can trust in something that we can do in order to bring about the change in mind and spirit and the self- control that we need. Jesus said,

Without Me you can do nothing (John 15: 5). Place your complete trust in Him. Do not place any trust in what you can do. In every time of temptation, look to Him for power to overcome and have victory. If you trust yourself, you will fail, but Jesus never fails.

BELIEF ALONE IS NOT ENOUGH.

The opposite and no less erroneous idea is the common belief that if you just believe, then you do not need to do anything. The fact is that the divine miracle takes place only when there is a union of divine power with human effort. As long as you surrender your will to the divine influence, He will work in you to will and to do according to His good pleasure. And the works of obedience to the physical laws of your body will take place in your life as you cooperate with God by making a persistent and vital effort to live according to your requests. The apostle said, You WORK OUT. . . with fear and trembling . . . God . . . WORKS IN you to will and to do. . .” (Philippians 2: 12, 13). The secret then is not that God does it— you gain the victory in the fight for self- control— but God supplies to you the power to gain the victory which, on your own, would be impossible.

WHAT ABOUT THE FUTURE?

The question arises, Will this miracle continue to happen? As long as you yield your will to Christ, as long as you are choosing to fully cooperate with Him, this divine miracle will continue to happen because your hope is not in yourself but in Him. So, you are not to look to yourself or depend upon yourself in order to have control over your craving to smoke or to manifest self- control in any other area of life. You are to look to where the help is.

One of the Bible writers expressed it like this. He said, speaking the Word of the Lord, Look unto Me and be saved all the ends of the earth, for I am God and there is none else (Isaiah 45: 22). If you look to Him (in your mind), you are going to be delivered from your problems of smoking, lack of self- control, obeying wrong impulses, and affection for wrong past habits.

There are all kinds of things in life to divert your attention from where the help is, but remember, you must not allow anything to prevent you from looking for and asking for divine help.

This divine help is in Jesus Christ. If you commit the keeping of your mind to Him and trust in Him, He is able to keep that which you have committed to Him (II Timothy 1: 12). So, look to Him every time you are faced with a temptation to smoke. Choose to follow Him in obedience, who said, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself (Luke 9: 23).

Self denial is the way to become an ex- smoker and the way to eventually gain life’s greatest happiness and pleasures. It is a divine principle that Jesus constantly taught by precept and example.

THE THREE PRINCIPLES

Here are three principles that you can use to keep this divine power flowing into your life, giving you control over the craving to smoke.

First:

Fix the Bible promises to smokers in your memory. Some Bible promises for smokers are:

Call upon Me in the day of trouble. I will deliver you and you shall glorify Me (Psalm 50: 15).

Call to Me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things that you do not know (Jeremiah 33: 3). The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed. A refuge in times of trouble. And those who know Your name will put their trust in You; for You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You (Psalm 9: 9, 10). For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened…. If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to them who ask Him (Matthew 7: 8, 11)! With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible (Matthew 19: 26). For with God nothing will be impossible. (Luke 1: 37). I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Philippians 4: 13). And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Philippians 4: 19).

God stands back of every promise He has made. Memorize them; repeat them over and over to yourself. This is a weapon that Jesus Himself used to overcome temptation.

Second:

Do not fail to continue asking for help. Jesus said, Men ought always to pray and not to faint (Luke 18: 1); in other words, do not give up. Keep asking continually. As you go about your daily activities, let your heart and spirit be uplifted to God, asking Him for divine help to conquer every subtle and surprising temptation to smoke. There is no time or place where it is inappropriate to offer up a request for divine help to assist you in conquering a temptation to smoke.

Third:

Develop the habit of being joyful and thankful. Did you know that most people are about as happy as they choose to be, and the Bible acknowledges this fact. If you will make the decision to be joyful and thankful, you will be surprised at the divine power that will come into your life in the very act of expressing your joy. The apostle said, Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice (Philippians 4: 4). In other words, express your joy. h everything with prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God, and the peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your heart and mind through Christ Jesus (Philippians 4: 6, 7). There is the secret, friend. Be joyful and express your joy and thankfulness for God’s answer to your request and a divine miracle is going to take place in your life.

You have an imagination. In your imagination, every time you are assailed with a temptation to smoke, even if you are depressed or discouraged or ready to yield to despair, look to Jesus and request help. Ask and you will receive. When a perverted craving struggles for the mastery in your mind, look to Jesus Christ. His power is sufficient to subdue any bad habit. Choose to turn to Him. Lay hold of the hope that is set before you. He has strength for your weakness, and He is ready and willing right now to lead you step by step to perfect self- control, permanent freedom from the slavery of smoking. Never fear that He is far away because He is always near (Acts 17: 27), and He is interested in having communion (fellowship) with you (Revelation 3: 19- 22). He is ready right now to work in your behalf and to impart to you power to subdue every craving to smoke. He does not do this without your consent. You are free to choose what power you want to rule over you. Nobody has fallen so many times or is such a slave to tobacco that they may not find deliverance through divine power (Hebrews 7: 25).

WHAT HUMAN EFFORT DO YOU NEED TO MAKE?

God expects you to live in harmony with the physical laws which He has created within your body. The particular physical laws which you need to pay special attention to when you begin to resist the craving to smoke are listed below.

1. Eat mainly fresh fruit and some fruit juice the first day.

As soon as you quit smoking, your body starts trying to rid itself of nicotine and all of the other poisons from tobacco that have been accumulating. You can assist your body in this effort by adopting a cleansing type of diet. If you are engaged in hard, manual labor and need a more liberal diet, a suggested first day diet would be as follows:

Breakfast

1- 2 slices of whole wheat or whole grain toast 1 banana 1 orange or apple 1 bowl of cooked cereal or cold cereal with low sugar content, with milk or milk substitute and fruit sauce, if desired 1 glass of apricot nectar, grape juice or orange juice a few nuts, such as almonds, pecans, walnuts, filberts or brazil nuts— raw nuts are best, dry roasted next best, roasted in oil should be avoided, if possible.

Lunch

1 baked potato with gravy or other topping 1 bowl of tossed, green, garden salad 1 serving of cooked greens— broccoli, spinach, turnip greens, mustard greens, kale, collards or Swiss chard— if none of the above are available, green vegetables would be second best, such as: green beans, okra, cabbage or brussels sprouts 1- 2 slices of bread, whole wheat or whole grain 1 serving of high protein food— Any kind of legume— cooked, dried beans, peas, lentils or garbanzos— is excellent. Lima beans are fine. Peanut butter sandwiches can do in a pinch. a few nuts (Nuts also provide protein.) 1 glass of milk or milk- substitute, optional

Supper

Any kind of fresh fruit as desired any kind of fruit juice without added sugar— Use juices in moderation that are high in sugar content, such as grape juice and pineapple juice. crackers, optional

The above menu is only for those who engage in hard manual labor. Others are advised to eat mainly fresh fruit and fruit juice the first day. If you want to be successful right from the start, you are advised to not eat or drink any type of food or beverage not listed.

2. Drink a minimum of six glasses of water per day.

This is in addition to whatever fruit juice, milk or vegetable juice you drink during the day. If you do not like the taste of your water and do not have access to purified water, you may put a small amount of lemon juice in the water. This is also advisable if you have weak digestion or if your stomach rebels at the thought of plain water.

The way to get enough water is as follows: Drink at least one eight- ounce glass of water during the first thirty minutes upon arising in the morning. Do not drink anything for one to two hours after breakfast. During the late morning, drink a minimum of two eight- ounce glasses of water. Do not drink anything for one to two hours after lunch. During the later afternoon, drink at least two glasses of water. Either before supper or just before going to bed, drink one more glass of water.

You will have more energy as a result of drinking more water and your body will be assisted in ridding itself of the poisons that have accumulated from the use of tobacco.

3. Practice deep breathing at least three times per day.

First of all, stand up and be sure that nothing is tight or restricting around your waist. Loose fitting clothing is absolutely essential to proper breathing. Through either your nose or your mouth, inhale the largest amount of air possible. Your tummy should go out both in front and on the sides. After you inhale as much as you can force yourself to, then inhale just a little bit more until you are feeling some discomfort.

Hold the air for a moment and then breathe out rapidly through your mouth. While breathing out, bend over and place your palms flat against your ribs, or abdomen, and push in. If you cough at the end of this breathing out, you will get more air out of your lungs, which is what you want. Repeat this exercise two more times. Repeat the entire procedure at least three times per day.

Note: If you are a jogger, a bicyclist or a long distance swimmer, you may eliminate this activity on any day that you work out.

4. Get plenty of rest the first few days.

Your body will exert tremendous effort during the next few days to purify itself, so you will need adequate rest and sleep.

5. A tepid bath or shower is recommended every day.

A tepid bath is one that is not very hot and not cold, just lukewarm. A lukewarm soak before bedtime for the first few days helps some people go to sleep.

6. Avoid all alcoholic beverages.

The cerebrum or forebrain is the first part of the brain to be affected by alcohol, and even a small amount of alcohol results in a decrease in judgment and the ability to exercise the will. Alcohol will sabotage your efforts to be free from tobacco. You cannot expect God to help you quit smoking if you use alcoholic beverages because He has forbidden their use. (See Proverbs 23: 29- 35; 20: 1; I Corinthians 6: 9, 10.)

7. Avoid all compromise.

If you decide to taper off from cigarettes or other forms of tobacco, you will surely fail. You cannot be successful unless you quit totally and entirely.

8. What to do if you fall.

A righteous man may fall seven times and rise again (Proverbs 24: 16). If you fall, confess your fall to God (I John 1: 9; Proverbs 28: 13). He has promised to forgive you and help you to finally succeed. Read the first part of this booklet over again and go through all of the steps faithfully. Start over immediately to be free from tobacco, and do not allow anyone to discourage you.

In the Revolutionary War, America lost battle after battle but finally won the war. If you should stumble, get up immediately and start again. God will not forsake you and will give you a permanent victory over tobacco if you do not give up because of a temporary failure. Pray most earnestly. Say like Jacob, ‘I will not let You go unless You bless me’ (Genesis 32: 26). If you keep going through the steps listed in the beginning of the booklet and keep asking, you will be given power to have permanent victory. The reason that some people stumble while quitting smoking will be explained later.

SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS

1. How to deal with headache.

  1. First and most important of all, pray whenever you have a headache. Say, “Father in heaven, You have promised to keep me in perfect peace (Isaiah 26: 3) {f I trust in You. I have chosen to trust in You so I ask that You will give me peace of mind and spirit and impart to me that rest (Matthew 11: 28- 30) that You have promised, for I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.”
  2. Drink a glass of water. Extra water is helpful for headaches.
  3. Practice the deep- breathing exercises.
  4. If practical, you may go for a walk. Your arms and legs should be well protected if the weather is cool. An outdoor walk is the best.
  5. Try to practice a strict, regular schedule— a set time for eating meals, a set time for going to bed, etc. Regular habits will help you to get adequate sleep. Headaches are often caused by lack of sleep.
  6. Do not eat anything between meals. Do not have meals closer than five hours apart. Avoid overeating, and do not eat many varieties of food at the same meal. Avoid any practice which has caused you to have indigestion. Headaches can be precipitated by indigestion.
  7. Headaches can be caused by improper clothing, either too much clothing in a hot room or climate or improper distribution of clothing, day or night, so that the extremities (arms and legs) are inadequately clothed while the trunk of the body is warmly covered. Chilling of the neck and shoulders can cause a headache. Tight restrictive clothing either at the neck or at the waist or other part of the trunk of the body can cause a headache by imbalancing the circulation.
  8. A hot foot bath with a cold cloth on the forehead, or even an ice bag placed at the top of the back of the neck against the skull, is sometimes necessary. The foot-bath can be 103- 106 degrees Fahrenheit. The washcloth on the forehead should be kept cool by frequent rinsing in cold water. A tepid bath (94- 97 degrees Fahrenheit) for one- half to three- quarters of an hour sometimes relieves headache.

2. Before you get up in the morning

Always pray before you say or do anything in the morning. The first thing in the morning, you might be severely tempted to have a cigarette. Before you get out of bed, talk to God about the upcoming day.

You might say something like this, “Father in heaven, I choose to consecrate myself to You and to belong totally to You today. On this condition, You have promised to give to me the fullness of Your blessing, to abide in me by Your Spirit and to be my strength and constant Helper. I claim these wonderful promises and claim a pure life free from the defilement of tobacco, in Jesus’name, Amen.” (This prayer is based on Numbers 6: 24- 26; John 14: 1- 17; 15: 1- 14; Hebrews 13: 5, 6.)

3. Use your leisure time wisely.

After supper, do not sit down and relax in an easy chair for the first few days because this will be one of the more dangerous times of the day when you will be tempted to smoke. Engage in an active or absorbing hobby, go for a walk or find something that will keep you busy until bedtime. Doing nothing will sabotage your efforts. Doing nothing can have a devastating effect on your will, so keep busy, except for time for sleeping the first few days. It will be advantageous for you to get a thirty minute walk or thirty minutes of working in the garden, etc., every day. Aerobic exercise will help you to always have a positive mental attitude.

The rest of this booklet will give you more help. If you are having any trouble, you may go over and over the first part of this booklet. Many people must go over and over the principles before they become a part of their character. Until your character is changed, your life free from tobacco is not yet permanent.

THIS IS ALL THAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TO GET STARTED.

HOW TO GET ANSWERS TO YOUR PRAYERS

The components of successful prayer are cited below. These concepts are from the Bible, but they are also found in a nineteenth century book called Steps to Christ.

Prayer is talking to God concerning our actual life— it is a conversation with Him. It is talking to Him in the same manner as we would talk with any friend.

Jesus taught His disciples to (1) present their daily needs before God and (2) cast all of their cares upon Him. He gave them the assurance that their petitions would be heard.

God’s heart of love yearns toward the children of men. He is ready to give them more than they can ask or think, but these divine gifts are only for those who ask and put their trust in Him.

Prayer should not consist altogether in asking and receiving. We are to praise God for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men (Psalm 107: 8).

To obtain answers to our prayers, the Bible presents the following prerequisites:

  1. We must feel our need, Isaiah 44: 3. 2. We must not cling to any known wrong, Psalm 66: 18. 3. We must choose to exercise trust in God, Hebrews 11: 6. 4. We must choose to exercise a spirit of love and forgiveness, Matthew 6: 12.
  2. We must persevere in prayer, Romans 12: 12; Colossians 4: 2; I Peter 4: 7. 6. We must take every opportunity to pray: in the family circle, in secret, with others and as we go about our work or daily activities. There is no time or place in which it is inappropriate to offer up a petition to God, Luke 18: 1.
  3. Christ’s example is that we are to blend prayer and works— we are to pray even in the midst of our work, but we are not to isolate ourselves away from others and retire from the world in order to pray. If we only pray and do not work, soon we will cease to pray or our prayers will become a formal routine.

So, take to God everything that perplexes your mind. Nothing that in any way concerns your peace is too small for Him to notice. There is no perplexity concerning your smoking problem that is too difficult for Him to understand. There is no calamity that can happen to you or anxiety that can harass you to which He is unobservant or in which He does not take an interest.

So ask. Ask when you are driving your car and you are being tempted to smoke.

Ask when you are on the job. Ask when you are talking with someone and you are tempted to smoke. Ask when someone offers you a cigarette and you do not know how to resist. You can always make a request for help in your mind, and God will hear. He says that He sees every thought that you think (Psalm 139: 2). Ask, Jesus said, and it will by given to you. Seek, and you shall find. Knock, and it will opened unto you. Everyone who asks receives, the one who seeks finds and to the one who knocks it will be opened (Matthew 7: 7, 8). Are you knocking on God’s door? Are you seeking for His help? If you are, He has promised to hear your request and answer you. God stands behind every promise He has made.

MORE HUMAN EFFORTS YOU CAN MAKE

Success is the result of divine power and human effort. Your utmost human effort is necessary. If you stop making a consistent effort, then God must stop providing miraculous power to help you because He never works out of harmony with your own will— that would restrict your freedom, which God will not do. Here are more things to do to have permanent success.

1. Avoid all coffee and caffeine.

Caffeine is a chemical stimulant that can initiate a craving for a cigarette. Very few people will be able to permanently quit smoking and still keep on drinking coffee. Caffeine is a drug and is potentially dangerous like any other drug. For many smokers, coffee seems to automatically signal for a cigarette afterward.

Caffeine and nicotine are chemically related drugs and the use of one can cause a craving for the other. The only sure way to quit smoking is to quit drinking coffee.

Caffeine is much more dangerous than usually described in the public press. As little as two cups of coffee per day can retard bone growth in the fetus and significantly decrease placental blood flow. The use of caffeine can result in calcium loss and gradual thinning of the bones. It can also result in a marked decrease in iron absorption, which could lead to anemia.

In addition to this, high dosages of caffeine can result in nervousness, irritability, restlessness, anxiety, insomnia and headaches. Do you need all of this extra trouble when you are quitting the use of tobacco?

Furthermore, since caffeine is a drug that can harm your body, can you with a clear conscience ask God to provide miraculous power so that you can be free from tobacco while you are needlessly using a drug that can seriously harm your body? Can you expect Him to restore your body if you are deliberately doing something that could destroy it?

2. Use natural, harmless stimulants.

One of the most powerful natural stimulants is a cold mitten friction. In the morning, fill the sink with cool or cold water. Dip a washcloth (or terry cloth mitt if you have one) into the water and wring it out dry. Then rub one arm at a time until the arm is pink.

The second morning you can fill the sink with colder water until eventually you may put ice cubes in the water, if you desire. The second or third morning you may want to rub your chest, as well as your arms, until it is pink. The morning after that you may rub your arms, your chest and your back until they are all pink. Then you may rub both of your arms and the entire trunk of your body. Finally, in about a week or ten days, you will be able to rub your arms, your chest, your upper and lower back, your abdomen and your legs until they are all pink.

After a cold mitten friction, you will be awake without having to use coffee, and you will feel better and have no harmful side effects. It will give you a lift without a later letdown. It will also increase your resistance to colds and other upper respiratory infections.

You will need to get up a few minutes earlier in the morning to do this, but it will be worth it for the rest of the day.

3. Your diet

After the first day, you may liberalize your diet, but if you make fresh fruit and vegetables the major part of your diet, you will have better health and you will probably feel better during the time your body is flushing the poisons from tobacco out of it. A good plan is to have a generous amount of fresh fruit for breakfast with a whole- grain cereal or other whole- grain food, milk or milk substitute, whole- grain toast, fruit sauce and a few nuts. Lunch would then include a generous amount of raw and cooked vegetables and should include one dark green or orange vegetable daily with whole- grain bread and a protein food. Potatoes are an excellent staple vegetable and when eaten with another cooked vegetable, a salad and a legume or casserole, provide satiety and enduring energy. The best protein foods were listed earlier. The third meal, if eaten, should be light, preferably fresh fruit only, but crackers and fruit juice with the fruit is all right if you are very hungry.

HOW DOES GOD EFFECT BEHAVIOR CHANGE?

Behavior change takes place when there is a combination of supreme human effort and divine power working in a person’s life. Consistent human effort never occurs without motivation. Where and how does lasting, powerful motivation come into a persons life? How does this take place? Jesus said, If you can believe, all things are possible to the one who believes (Mark 9: 23).

Trust or belief in God comes the same way as you learn to trust or believe in anyone else. We learn to trust others as a result of our acquaintance or experience with them. We learn to trust God as a result of our acquaintance or experience with Him. How do we become acquainted with God? We become acquainted with Him in the same way that we become acquainted with anybody else. We talk to Him, and He talks to us.

We have already talked about asking Him for help continually and praising Him for answering our requests. Some changes take place instantly; some changes take place over a period of time. Just because you do not feel any different right this moment, this does not mean that a change is not really happening.

When we become acquainted with God, we learn to believe or trust in Him to give us control over our past smoking habit or any other unhealthful craving. The Scripture says, We love Him because He first loved us (I John 4: 19).

EXPERIENCING LOVE

When Jesus was here, the disciples experienced His love by being with Him. John says, We heard Him, we saw Him with our eyes, we gazed upon Him, our hands handled Him (I John 1: 1). Concerning what they saw, he said, That which we have seen and heard we declare also to you so that you might have fellowship (verse 3).

If we experience Jesus’ love now, it must be by reading these reports (the four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) of what those disciples saw, heard and handled. If we do this, the result will be a fellowship with the Father and the Son, a precious experience in receiving divine love. Love brings joy and control into our lives.

When a man and woman are first in love, they spend as much time as possible with each other, and that love grows and becomes a powerful force in their lives.

Divine love is the most powerful motivating force for smoking cessation there is. We must spend as much time as possible with the source of that love so that we will receive it. Otherwise we will not have this most powerful motivating force in our lives which will bring about permanent freedom from tobacco. We love because He first loved us (I John 4: 19). Schedule at least fifteen minutes per day to read from one of the Gospels. A good place to start is the Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew 5- 7. You will find a great deal of help to give you complete freedom over smoking in this sermon that Jesus gave.

WILL MY LIFESTYLE CHANGES BE PERMANENT?

Love is the most powerful motivating force there is for smoking cessation. When we love God and realize that He will give us any help necessary for us to achieve victory over our bondage to tobacco, lasting changes will take place. The result will be permanent cessation of smoking.

SUMMARY OF PRINCIPLES IN SIMPLE STEPS

  1. We become acquainted with God in the same way that we become acquainted with anyone else— by talking to Him and listening to Him talk to us (I John 1: 1- 3; Job 22: 2 1). We talk to Him when we pray. He talks to us through His Word, the Bible.
  2. As we become acquainted with God, we experience His love for us (Jeremiah 31: 3).
  3. If we become acquainted with God, the natural result is that we will love Him (I John 4: 19).
  4. Divine love is the most powerful motivating force there is to make and keep you free from the bondage of tobacco. It is a divine power that enables a person to develop self- control( l Corinthians 13: 7,8; John 14: 23).
  5. As our love relationship with God develops, we have more desire to become all that we can become with His divine power operating in our lives.
  6. His love to us and our responding love to Him empowers us to fulfill the desire to be free from tobacco.

OBTAINING PERMANENT RESULTS

Divine love is more powerful than any enslaving habit to tobacco you have. It is the only thing that will produce permanent results. Any other motivation will eventually wear off and your bad habits and bondage to depravity of one kind or another will return, but love never fails (I Corinthians 13: 8).

The first requirement for developing a love relationship with God is to spend time with Him— talk to Him. The second requirement is to listen to God talk to you.

HOW GOD TALKS TO YOU THROUGH HIS BOOK

God has big plans for you, bigger plans than you have for yourself. God created man to be in charge, to have dominion over the whole world, not to be a slave but to be a ruler. These plans can never be fulfilled unless you are in control of your own life. How does God plan to bring this about? He brings it about through His Word. Jesus said, I am the vine, you are the branches. He who remains in Me and I in Him, the same brings forth much fruit for without Me, you can do nothing (John 15: 5).

Because of the effect of heredity, of bad habits, of wrong lifestyle and of bad choices, we do not have the ability of ourselves to exercise self- control. We cannot control our minds or our bodies in our own strength. Jesus said, If a man does not remain in Me, he is cast forth as a branch and is withered, and men gather them and cast them into the fire and they are burned (John 15: 6). This is an apt illustration of the life that is ruined by bad habits. Jesus continued to say, If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, you shall ask what you wish and it shall be done to you (John 15: 7). So, knowing the promises in the Word is very important if we want to obtain answers to our requests.

GOD’S PROMISES

The promises in God’s Word show us what to pray for and what to ask for. We know that if we ask for something that is promised in His Word, our request will be fulfilled (I John 5: 14).

Let us look now at a few of the Bible promises especially applicable to smokers. The apostle Paul says, Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit (I Corinthians 6: 19). You are bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body (I Corinthians 6: 20). It is God’s will for you to live in harmony with the physical laws of your body, in fact, the apostle says, If anyone destroys the temple of God, Him will God destroy, for the temple of God is holy which temple you are (I Corinthians 3: 17).

So, you know that it is not God’s will for you to destroy your body by unhealthful habits, such as smoking. God has promised to deliver you from every desire contrary to His will if you are willing. But I say, Walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the lust [craving] of the flesh (Galatians 5: 16).

If you choose to follow the instruction of the Holy Spirit given in God’s Word this is a promise that you will have victory over every unhealthful craving and temptation. Through whom are given to us exceeding great and precious promises that through these you might be partakers of the divine nature having escaped from the corruption which is in the world through lust. (II Peter 1: 4). It is by memorizing, quoting and claiming the promises in God’s Word in every time of temptation that victory is gained. Jesus Himself used this spiritual weapon. (See Matthew 4: 1- 11.)

GOD UNDERSTANDS YOUR TEMPTATIONS

Somebody might say, “Well, God doesn’t understand howl am tempted.” But God does understand how you are tempted; in fact, the apostle Paul says in Hebrews 4: 14, 15, We have a great High Priest who is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God. We do not have a high priest which cannot not be touched with the feeling of our maladies, but He was in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin.

Jesus knows how you feel; He knows how you have been tempted. He knows how you are tempted because He was tempted in all points like as you are. Because He was tempted in all points like as you are, He knows how to deliver you from temptation. Look at the promise that follows in Hebrews 4: 16, Let us therefore come boldly before the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and grace to help in time of need.

Does it seem impossible to obtain freedom from the bondage of tobacco? Does it seem impossible to keep from lighting up? The apostle said, Let us come boldly before the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4: 16). In other words, every time you have a temptation that seems irresistible, you need to ask for divine help, and the promise is that you are going to find mercy and grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4: 16).

YOU CAN BE FREE FROM TOBACCO.

Did you know that Jesus Himself has promised to set you free from every sinful or unhealthful habit? This is one of the most wonderful promises in all of the Bible. You can claim it every time you are assailed by temptation to smoke.

This promise is found in John 8: 32- 36: And you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. They gave answer to Him, We are Abraham’s seed and we have never been enslaved ever. How do you say that you shall become free? Jesus answered them, Most assuredly I say to you, that every one who commits sin is the slave of sin and the slave does not remain in the house forever, but the Son remains forever. If, therefore, the Son shall set you free, you shall be free indeed.

Sin is simply doing something that is unlawful (I John 3: 4). The sixth commandment says, You shall not kill. This includes more than pointing a gun at yourself or somebody else. It includes slow suicide. This would include smoking because habitual smokers have a higher death rate than they otherwise would.

JESUS’ PROMISE TO YOU

Jesus has promised to set you free from all bondage. He has promised to deliver you from every kind of slavery. He has promised to deliver you, set you free, from every wrong habit, every unhealthful habit. This is a promise that you can claim every time you are tempted, every time it seems impossible not to yield to the temptation to smoke.

DO NOT SABOTAGE YOUR WILL

The will is the governing power in the nature of man. It is God’s design that your body be in absolute subjection to your will at all times. Only then are you truly free. (See 1 Corinthians 9: 24- 27.)

It is necessary for you to surrender your will to God in order to be delivered from the bondage which has kept you a slave in dire captivity to tobacco. (See Romans 7: 18- 8: 17.) As long as your will is surrendered to God, He will work through your conscience and reason to control it. God does not usurp your own mental powers, but as long as you are surrendered to Him, He works through them to elevate, refine, ennoble and bring you in every way to a condition where you might enjoy lasting pleasure and happiness with no hang- over, smoker’s cough or other sorrow connected with it.

But you have a part to act in order to keep your will from again becoming a slave to your body or the lower powers of the mind, such as the emotions. (Emotions should always be the servant of the will; the will or power of choice should never be under the control of any part of the body.)

There are certain physical and mental habits which can weaken the will and again bring it into slavery. If you deliberately weaken your will, God will not work a miracle to keep you free— by your actions you are declaring to the whole universe that you have not chosen to be free, and God’s power is not exercised contrary to your own choice. The practices which weaken the will are listed below. If you are brought into difficulty through no choice of your own like Daniel was when taken a captive to Babylon, God will protect you, but God’s power is not exercised to protect the presumptuous.

Physical and Mental Habits that Weaken the Will

1. Overeating

The will, as all other powers of the mind, is affected by the physical state of the body. If you overeat, the circulation is imbalanced and you lose your power to resist temptation. Overeating is often followed by a sensation of drowsiness, and in this half- awake state, the will is in no condition to bring perverted bodily cravings into absolute subjection as is necessary to acquire freedom from the slavery of tobacco.

If you are a habitual overeater, you can use the same principles found in the first part of this booklet to gain the victory over overeating. Especially remember to ask God for victory and selfcontrol. There are also a few physical techniques you can use to avoid overeating:

Practice regularity in eating. Eat only at regular times and not more than three times per day. Regular, balanced meals will help you to avoid the unhealthful habit of snacking.

Avoid extreme- type diets which can result in excess hunger. Any diet which is severely restricted in fat content can result in extreme hunger. While excess fat and fats that are solid at room temperature are dangerous to your health, there must be a balance. Get some fat at both breakfast and lunch. The best fat is in whole, unrefined foods. A recommended list of foods containing large amounts of fat follows. These foods should be used in moderation.

High fat foods include, most nuts and many seeds, such as sunflower and sesame seeds, avocados and olives. Refined foods containing fat, while not totally prohibited, should be restricted. This would include all oils and many dairy products. Milk substitutes have to be evaluated individually. Many have a high fat content.

Use whole foods and plant foods as much as possible. These foods have protective factors that help you to feel satisfied on less calories and thereby avoid overeating.

Eat slowly, laying your fork down between bites. Swallow each mouthful before taking another fork full of food. Chew your food slowly and thoroughly and allow adequate time for meals. This last point is very important. If you do not allow at least twenty to thirty minutes for your meal, you may feel hungry even if you have had plenty to eat.

Regular exercise has a powerful regulatory effect on the appetite. If you walk for thirty minutes a day, you will probably feel a need for less food than if you were totally sedentary.

2. Overwork and lack of rest

Any habit that results in undue fatigue will result in weakening the will. Staying up late at night, followed by an early rise which is still not early enough for a good breakfast, results in starting the day in a weak condition. Lack of planning and scheduling or trying to do two day’s work in one and the resulting lack of sleep, plus overwork, can sabotage your will power.

3. Alcoholic beverages or other mind altering drugs

The higher powers of the mind are more and more anesthetized as alcohol is used. Many people who had quit smoking have started again after drinking alcohol.

4. Tea, coffee and other caffeine sources

Caffeine is a stimulant to the nervous system. Continual use of caffeine has the same effect as overwork or lack of rest— the nervous system, as well as the rest of the body, because of unnatural stimulation, does not recuperate adequately and becomes debilitated until the will is overborne, and then the person has no ability to escape unnatural cravings. Divine power is ready to deliver you from this vicious circle, but you must do your part— decide to abstain from all harmful substances which weaken your will, and follow your decision with your utmost effort while calling upon God for divine power to help you. You must work out what God works in. (Philippians 2: 12, 13).

5. Overindulgence in sexual passions

Every blessing that God has given the human family can be abused and thereby become a curse. Sexual intimacy requires a large amount of biological vitality, and overindulgence can have a weakening effect. One of the worst effects is the habit that can be formed of placing the higher powers of the mind under the control of the sexual passions. The will should always control the passions and never be controlled by them.

If sexual passions control the whole being, man is then in a similar position to dumb animals. A person who is used to being a slave to emotions and feelings will find it impossible to become free from tobacco unless God works a miracle in His life. The first part of this booklet outlines how this miracle can happen.

6. Other unnatural stimulation

Many other habits and practices can unnaturally stimulate the body and the mind and result in a weakened condition of the will. These include using large amounts of certain condiments and spices. The general rule is that if a seasoning tastes hot when actually it is cold, it might be used as a medicine, but it is not safe to use as food. Condiments can immediately start a strong craving for a cigarette.

The mind can be unnaturally stimulated by watching crime, either in the news or acted out. The mind can be unnaturally stimulated by reading novels, various works of fiction and other exciting literature or by watching movies. Such stimulation unbalances the circulation, and any excess stimulation finally results in debilitation and weakening of the will. You can keep up with what is going on in the world and know everything you need to know without this constant stimulation and knowledge of the details of every outrage that is committed.

Rich and heavy foods can unnaturally stimulate the body. A high protein diet is a stimulating diet and not the best for health. While you are still experiencing cravings for tobacco, any unnecessary stimulation of the body can make this craving worse, so avoid meat as much as possible because meat not only is high in protein but contains purine and ammonia which have stimulating qualities. Especially avoid rare meat.

The general rule is that any substance, when taken in far greater amount than needed by the body, can result in stimulation or debilitation, either of which is not helpful to having strong will power. Some other common substances which can have stimulating qualities when taken in very large amounts are vitamin pills, food supplements, sugar, eggs, milk and other dairy products.

A word of caution is in order here. If you have been using large amounts of food supplements, it is wiser to decrease the amount taken slowly rather than all at once because your body probably has a tolerance now to large amounts of these vitamins or whatever supplement you have been taking. You can experience a severe letdown in energy and a feeling of malaise and fatigue if customary food supplements are suddenly discontinued. This extra shock to your body is totally unnecessary while you are acquiring permanent freedom from the slavery of tobacco, so do not discontinue supplements all at once.

7. Doing anything that you know is wrong

If you deliberately do anything that you know is wrong, you will suffer a violated conscience and an immediate weakness of will power to do what you know is right. You will immediately lose the divine power that God has been giving you to help you to obtain freedom from the slavery of tobacco.

If you experiment with any instrument which is used of evil spirits, such as spiritualistic mediums, psychics and fortune- tellers; secret associations and seances; healers who claim to employ electricity, magnetism, or “sympathetic remedies”; if you attempt to communicate with the dead (See Deuteronomy 18: 10- 12; Isaiah 8: 19, 20; I Chronicles 10: 13, 14; Ecclesiastes 9: 5, 6.); if you venture into scenes of dissipation or irreligious pleasure; if you seek the society of the sensual person, the skeptic or the blasphemer, either in person or through the medium of the press or theater, you will lose the miraculous power of God in your life.

Your only sure escape if you are in this situation is to follow the divinely appointed steps back to freedom:

First, you must acknowledge the wrong you have done to God and also to others if you have injured them and ask forgiveness of all injured parties. (See Proverbs 28: 13; I John 1: 9.) Then you must follow the steps presented in the first part of this booklet again about how to get started and how to get divine help to gain back your freedom and self- control.

HOW WE ARE TEMPTED TO SMOKE

In 1 John 2: 15- 17, the apostle says, Do not love the world, neither the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him because everything that is in the world, the craving of the flesh, the craving of the eye, and the ostentatiousness of life, is not from the Father but is out of the world. The world passes away and the cravings of it, but the one who does the will of God remains forever.

This is a plain acknowledgment that our body can crave things that are not good for us. It is also evident that we must not gratify these cravings if we desire life. The apostle says, Do not love these things. Do not love the world; there are only three things in the world, the craving of the flesh, the craving of the eyes and the ostentatious- ness of life.

WHAT DO I DO ABOUT THESE CRAVINGS?

Now the question that comes to you and me is, If I love the world, if I have been giving in to the craving of my flesh, if I have been giving in to the craving of my eyes, if I have been smoking until that craving has become almost overwhelming, what do I do about it? How do I get over it?

The secret is right in this passage (1 John 2: 15- 17) I am not to love the world, but I am to have a transfer of my affections so that I can do the will of God. You see, if my whole life revolves around the craving of my flesh and the craving of my eyes, it will never be possible for me to obtain perfect self- control over my cravings or urge to smoke. In order for me to gain the victory over bad physical habits, what must happen? I must have a transfer of my affections from these things to somebody above.

HOW OUR DESIRES ARE MODIFIED

This happens in the following manner. We love Him because He first loved us (1 John 4: 19). Did you know that God is never tempted to smoke? God is love and His love is always directed outward toward the benefit of the intelligence’s He has created. Our wrong habits and cravings are the result of a perversion of His love. Instead of our love being directed outward toward the happiness and benefit of others, our love is directed inward to the happiness and benefit of ourselves— to gratification of our flesh by smoking or wrong eating, etc. Wrong habits are cultivated through this basic root principle of self- love.

We can never quit our wrong habits unless we learn the essence of the divine character— that principle which seeks not its own but another’s good. How does this happen? The process of overcoming wrong habits is, in its most simple explanation, a process of learning to love the way God loves.

HOW DO WE LEARN THIS VITAL PRINCIPLE?

The problem is, how do we learn to love when we are so used to loving that craving of our flesh, that craving of our eyes, our oppressive desire to smoke and other gratifications of these desires of our flesh and our eyes? How does this process of learning to love the way God loves happen in us?

Before we will have any love to give to anybody else, we must first experience His love to us. When Jesus was here, His disciples experienced His love by spending time with Him. John says, We heard Him, we saw Him with our eyes, we gazed upon Him, our hands handled Him (I John 1: 1). Concerning what they saw, he said, That which we have seen and heard, we announce also to you that you might have fellowship with us (1 John 1: 3).

HOW DO WE SPEND TIME WITH HIM?

If we are to have fellowship with Jesus now, it will have to be by reading the reports about what these disciples saw, heard and handled. If we do this the result will be a fellowship, a close interpersonal relationship with the Father and the Son, a precious experience of receiving divine love. This experience will give power to our decisions to be free from tobacco and to overcome our bad habits. We will have a transfer of our affections from the satisfaction of the cravings of this world to the satisfaction of fellowship with the Father and the Son. Then, the apostle says, our joy is going to be full (1 John 1: 4).

HOW DO WE FALL IN LOVE?

When a man and woman are first in love, they spend as much time as possible with each other, and that love grows and becomes a powerful force in their lives. Divine love is the most powerful force there is to overcome the craving to smoke. It is the most powerful force there is, but we need to spend as much time as possible with the source of that love so that we will receive it. We will never be filled with that love with just a few minutes a day thinking about Him while we spend the rest of the day thinking about the cravings of our flesh or booking at secular pictures and advertising with craving in our eyes.

We must experience His love the same way that the first disciples experienced it. We must hear His voice speaking to us. We must see Him in our imagination. We must gaze upon Him. As we work in this world, our hands must touch Him. We must have the same intimate spiritual fellowship with the Father and the Son that they had. People who love each other always find time to be together.

THE RESULTS OF SPENDING TIME WITH HIM

The result, friends, of that relationship in your life will be that you will receive divine power to overcome the craving to smoke. Spend time with Jesus by studying His life every day, and the result will be that a new love will take possession of your mind. Your affections will be imperceptibly changed from love of the world with its craving of the flesh and craving of the eyes to the love of the Father, an intimate love relationship with the One who has all power and who will give you His power to overcome. He will give you power to carry out your own best decisions.

THE HUMAN ESSENTIAL FOR SMOKING CESSATION

Jesus talked about the human essential in the Sermon on the Mount. He said, Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord is going to enter into the kingdom of heaven, hut the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven (Matthew 7: 21). It is not what we say, it is not what we profess, it is what we do that counts. And why do you call Me, Lord, Lord, and you do not do what I say (Luke 6: 46)?

WHEN WE BECOME SUCCESSFUL

We become successful in becoming free from tobacco when:

  1. we ask for help,
  2. depend upon God to give us divine help and then, in obedience to our request and trust in Him,
  3. we take action— we act on our trust or our belief in Him.

It is always true that we will act out all of the trust or faith in God that we have, and it is when we show by our actions that we believe that God is going to help us, that a miracle begins to take place in our lives.

ON THE BORDERS OF THE PROMISED LAND

There was a time in ancient history when the children of Israel, the descendants of Abraham, the spiritual forefathers of the faithful of later ages, marched out of Egypt and went across a terrible wilderness to inherit the promised land. The time came when they were encamped on the borders of the promised land.

Right now, if you have been following the instructions in this booklet, you are encamped on the borders of your promised land— the new you, the new self-controlled you, the you who has control over your lifestyle and is free at last from all enslaving habits.

But when the children of Israel were encamped on the borders of the promised land, it was not enough for them to have a knowledge of Canaan. It was not enough for them to sing songs about Canaan. This would not bring them into possession of all those wonderful vineyards and olive groves in that wonderful country. They could make it theirs in truth only by occupation. They had to go across the Jordan and actually occupy the land. They had to do something. They had to comply with the conditions. They had to exercise faith in God and take His promises to themselves while they obeyed His instruction. They had to have an active experience.

IMPORTANCE OF TAKING ACTION

Becoming free from tobacco consists in doing something, doing something active about the problem. Whether or not we will be successful depends not just on whether or not we ask for help, whether or not we believe or whether or not we make a profession of believing. Whether or not we are successful will be made manifest by whether or not we actually do or act in harmony with our requests. We must do and not say only, because it is only through action that new habits are built.

HOW CHARACTER IS BUILT

These new habits develop into a new character. Actions become habits and habits become character— you. You started reading this booklet with many wrong habits in your possession as a part of your character. You have been making decisions based on the information presented about changing your character.

We cannot do this unless God supplies the power. That is why this must be a spiritual experience, an experience of asking Him for help and getting to know Him. Although God will supply the power, it is up to you and me to use the power. We cannot just sit in our tents and pray and study. We must get up and take action— walk into the promised land.

Taking proper action will result in the development of good habits which will result in the development of a different character, a new character, a new, pure, tobacco- free you. You have had a misshapen character because of smoking. Our goal is to help you to reshape your character using divine power that is most certainly available to you. It is impossible for anyone to do this perfectly by themselves. That is why we have talked about the necessity of receiving divine help.

YOU ARE THE ARBITER OF YOUR DESTINY

Remember, God will supply the power, the help. It is up to you and me to take hold of that power and do something with it. No matter how much power God supplies to you, He leaves it up to you to take that power and work out what He works in. Every day you are building the new you. Your character depends on the actions that you take. Your actions result in habits, and the habits result in character.

OBTAINING LASTING RESULTS

There is a true foundation to build your character upon— a living Stone— and if you build upon that true foundation, God’s life will be imparted to you as you build upon Him (1 Peter 2: 4- 9). If the building that you are building is on another foundation, someday it is going to fall. Some people build their character (their attempt to become free from the slavery of tobacco and other bad habits) upon a foundation of human ideas, upon human philosophy and opinions, or upon protocols of some man’s invention.

The person who does this is building a structure of character upon shifting sand. Someday, sometime the fierce tempests of temptation will sweep away this sandy foundation and leave that person’s house of character a wreck, and they will say, “I stopped smoking once. I was free from tobacco once, and I thought I could handle it myself But when the stress of _________ happened, I started again.”

If you are resting your hope of having perfect self- control upon yourself, you are building on shifting sand. It is not too late, friend, to escape ruin. Before the temptations of perverted carnal desires break over you, flee to the sure foundation, the tried and living Stone.

Listen, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, and the one who believes will not be in a hurry, . . . Look unto Me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is none else…. Do not be afraid for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you by the right hand of My righteousness (Isaiah 28: 16; 45: 22; 41: 10).

The help is available. The question is, What are you doing with it? What character will you build with it? Your actions develop your habits, and your habits develop your character, the new, pure, tobacco- free you. Whoever hears these words of Mine and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house upon the rock (Matthew 7: 24).

TODAY IS THE DAY FOR A MIRACLE IN YOUR LIFE

There is recorded in the Scripture a time when the apostle Paul spoke the good news to a Roman governor. The Scripture says there were three things that Paul talked to this Roman governor about. He talked to him about right— about doing that which is right. He talked to him about self- control. He also talked to him about having to give an account in the future for this life that we live here.

THE DANGER OF PROCRASTINATION

As Paul did this, the Scripture says that this Roman governor, by the name of Felix, trembled and he gave this answer, Go your way for this time. When I have a convenient season, I will call for you (Acts 24: 25).

This is a classic reply, a classic response. Go your way right now; when I have a convenient season, I will call for you. I am going to do something about it. Have you ever heard someone say that? Today lam going to smoke just a little bit. Tonight I have to go to a party, but tomorrow I am going to develop self- control; tomorrow I will become free of the slavery of tobacco. Today, during the holidays, I need to enjoy myself, but lam going to do something about my smoking later. I am going to change my lifestyle sometime in the future. Tomorrow I am going to do it. Today I have other things to do.

THERE WILL NEVER BE AN EASIER TIME

The news is, friend, that today is the day for you to make the changes that you want to make in your life. It will never be easier tomorrow than it is today. It is easier today than it ever will be again, on the basis of what you have just read. The actions that you commit today develop habits, and these habits develop character. Your character is what you really are. If you keep on indulging yourself, if you keep on smoking, more and stronger, wrong habits will be formed. The result will be a deterioration of character, a depraved character. So, tomorrow it will be harder for you to make the changes you want to make than it is today. Although nothing is impossible with divine grace, it will be more difficult. So, today is the day for you to make the changes that you want to make in life.

TODAY IS THE TIME

We read in the Bible about a woman that was brought to Jesus from the very act of adultery. And they came to Jesus and they said, Moses said that such should be stoned, but what do you say? And this they said that they might have something to accuse Him (John 8: 5, 6) either to the people or to the Romans. Jesus arranged affairs in this incident so that all of the people who brought the woman to Him left, being accused by their own conscience of their own sins, and the woman was left alone with Jesus. When that happened, it says that, Jesus lifted Himself up and saw none but the woman, and said to her, Woman, where are those your accusers? Has no man condemned you? She said, No man, Lord. Jesus said to her, Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more (John 8: 10, 11).

When Jesus talked to that woman, He said, in effect, today is the day for you to make a change in your life. Jesus never told anybody that tomorrow will be all right; you can go ahead and indulge yourself today. You can go ahead and practice your unhealthful habits today and change tomorrow. Jesus never told anyone that. Jesus told people, today is the day to make a change in your life. Today is the day that God is willing to work a divine miracle in your life. Today is the day. He said to that woman, Go and sin no more (John 8: 11).

Do you realize what that almost certainly meant? That meant that the woman had to go and get a different kind of job. That meant that she was out of a job because she was involved in prostitution to make a living. But when Jesus talked to her, He did not say, “Let’s work on this and see if you can make some arrangements to get another kind of job.” He did not say anything like that; He said, “Today is the day, tight now. Don’t live like that any longer. Today is the day; right now is the time to change. Right now is the time to have new life. Friend, that was the beginning of new life for that woman, that day.

Now, which kind of person are you? Are you like that Roman ruler who said, “Go for right now; I want to enjoy my wrong indulgences a little more, so I want to wait for a more convenient time. There are so many wrong habits in my life, and it will be inconvenient for me socially and professionally to change right now. I am going to wait for a more convenient time.” The more convenient time does not come.

Or are you going to be like that woman that Jesus met? Right then, right that day, a change was made in her life. She started to live a new life that very day. Jesus said, Go and sin no more. Today is the day to make a change. That was the beginning of new life for that woman. If you are willing to make a change today, God is willing to help you to make that change today. But God will never work a miracle in the life of a person who says, “I want to continue in my wrong habits for today. I want a more convenient time, and then I will make a change. I want to taper off from my bad habits.” If you decide to taper off from bad habits, you have decided to do some evil still, and if God were to help you, He would be blessing you in evil- doing. So, you cannot have any help from God until you decide to quit completely all evil or unhealthful habits. The person who is waiting for a more convenient time or who is trying to taper off never experiences a miracle. They may believe, they may know, but they are waiting for tomorrow to quit completely, and life passes by. At the end, their character is a wreck in the annals of time and eternity.

SUMMARY

Today is the best day, the best opportunity you will ever have, to make a change. Let us review what we have studied:

  1. Ask for divine help, knowing that God never tells a lie and that He stands back of every promise He has made.
  2. Become acquainted with God. Talk to Him every time you are faced with a temptation to smoke.
  3. You become acquainted with God when you listen to Him talk to you about the big plans that He has for your life and by exposing yourself to His Word, especially to the promises He has made in His Word to everyone who wants complete freedom.
  4. You expose yourself to the most powerful force in the world by experiencing the love that Jesus has for you— you experience His life by reading about it in His Word.
  5. Then you start to act out the promise that God has made to you, depending upon Him to work a miracle in your life.
  6. When you do these things, the miracle begins today. Do not say, “I am going to wait for a more convenient time; I am going to wait for a better opportunity.” Do not say that, because then the miracle will never happen. We have no record that Felix ever had a change in his life— the Lord never worked a miracle in His life. He went on with all of his wrong habits, wrong actions and depraved character development.

Today can be the day that a change occurs in your life, if you make the choice today. Jesus said to the woman that was taken in adultery, Go and sin no more (John 8: 11). In other words, be done with all of those bad habits, today. If you want to live a new life, if you want to have perfect self- control, if you want victory over the craving to smoke or a life of idleness and inactivity, today can be the day when you have a new life. Jesus worked miracles for those who were willing to exercise trust during the present— today.

WALKING ON WATER

There is a story in the Bible about a man who walked on water with the Lord.. This story happened between three and six o’clock in the morning. The disciples of Jesus were on a boat, alone, in the middle of the Sea of Galilee. A fearful storm had arisen on the sea. During this storm, Jesus came to the disciples walking upon the sea— Jesus was walking on water.

At first when the disciples saw a person walking on the water, they were afraid, but then Jesus said to them, Be of good courage, it is L Do not he afraid (Matthew 14: 27). The Scripture says that Peter answered Him and said, Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water. And He said, Come. And coming down out of the ship, Peter walked upon the water to come to Jesus, but looking on the wind boisterous, he was terrified and beginning to sink, he cried saying, Lord, save me. And Jesus stretched forth His hand and took him, and said to him, Oh, you of little faith. Why did you doubt? (Matthew 14: 28- 31).

PERMANENT SUCCESS AND TEMPORARY FAILURE

We are now going to address the subjects, “Will you be free of tobacco permanently?” and “How to deal with temporary failure.” From the human point of view, walking on water is impossible. From the human point of view, being permanently free from tobacco is impossible for many.

But there is Somebody who can help you to walk on water. Peter’s experience of walking on water covers the steps that we have been studying about becoming permanently free from tobacco and developing new habits of behavior— forming a new character.

ASK THE RIGHT PERSON

First of all, Peter asked the right person— he asked for divine help. We have already seen the importance of asking, continually asking for divine help. Right in the middle of business affairs, you can send up a silent request to God, and He will hear and answer your petition, although it is not verbalized.

CHOOSE TO TRUST HIM

Second, Peter was acquainted with the divine Person whom he asked for help and he trusted in this Person that He would help him. He had so much faith in this Person that when the Lord told him to come down out of the ship and walk on water, he believed. He did not say, “Oh, no, I’ll sink if I do that.” He believed in the Person because he was acquainted with Him. We have studied about becoming acquainted with this very same Person— we become acquainted with Him just like we become acquainted with anyone else, by talking to Him and listening to Him talk to us, which He does through His Word.

Third, because of this complete trust in the Person whom he had come to know and love, Peter got down out of the ship and attempted to do something that had always been impossible for him before— walk on water.

If we trust Him and He tells us that He wants us to develop perfect self- control, as He indeed does in I Corinthians 9: 24- 27, then we, too, will attempt to do something that has always been impossible for us to do before, such as becoming permanently free from tobacco.

Is it impossible to walk on water? Is it impossible to be totally and permanently free from tobacco? It may be just as impossible as walking on water, but when you ask for divine help, place your trust in the Person whom you are asking and begin to take action based on that trust, a miracle starts happening in your life, and you start to walk on water.

WHEN THE MIRACLE BEGINS

So, Peter acted on his faith. He got down out of the ship, and because he asked the right Person and he had faith and confidence in this Person, he acted on his faith. When he acted on his faith, a miracle began to happen in his life. This is a very important concept to understand— when did the miracle begin to happen in Peter’s life? It began to happen when he acted on his faith.

God does not begin to work a miracle in your life until you start to demonstrate your faith in Him by doing something active while you trust in Him to work a miracle in your life. Millions have experienced this miracle. How about you? God stands behind every promise that He has made.

WHAT IF I START TO SINK?

Now, the questions come, What if sometime I should do something wrong? What if I should give in to my perverted craving for cigarettes sometime? What if I should engage in an unhealthful practice at some time? What then? Is everything last?

As soon as you begin to practice a known unhealthful habit that you know is not right, you lose the spiritual power that you have within and the same thing happens to you that happened to Peter; immediately you begin to sink. Peter looked at the problem— big waves, a big storm, great surges of waves under his feet.

The same thing can happen to you— you look around and you see a cloud of smoke around you, on television, on billboards, in magazines; the lust of the flesh, the cravings of the eye, the unhealthful habits, these perverted cravings that you have been developing for years surround you. Everything around you seems to be a temptation, and if you look at the problem instead of looking to the One who is the solution to the problem, you will begin to sink.

If you take your eyes off of the One who can and will always be a never- failing source of help for you and look at all the problems, immediately you will begin to sink. The problem seems overwhelming. Discouragement sinks in when you have a temporary failure and you say, “What happened? I had victory yesterday and the day before that, and now, today, it’s not happening. What am I going to do? I am facing failure. Is everything going to ruin?”

That is the situation that Peter was facing. He was walking on water. He had asked the right Person. He had put his trust in the right Person. He had acted on his faith. A miracle had been occurring in his life. But he took his eyes off of where the help was; and, friend, when you look away from where the help is, you are automatically looking at the problems. You start looking at your perverted cravings and that cloud of smoke obscures your thinking. Right away you begin to sink. What do you do then, when you are sinking and you are facing failure?

Friend, you must do what Peter did. You must say, “Lord, save me!” You must look where the help is. You remember the text in the Bible that says a righteous man falls seven times and rises again? Friend, it does not take very long to sink; you may have been walking on water for a longtime, but when you take your eyes off from where the help is, when you start deciding to do it yourself, down you go. When you lose your connection with your all- powerful divine helper, you go down in the water (or smoke) very rapidly. Very fast you can sink right back down to your old habits, your old, smoky lifestyle.

What do you do to keep this from happening? Remember to keep your eye on where the help is, keep asking for divine help and keep taking action on your confidence in that divine help. Keep studying the promises in His Word and claiming those promises. The result will be that you will keep on walking on water.

Here is a prayer that you can pray: “Father in Heaven, I thank You for Your promises and the divine miracles that they bring into my life. I come to You to make request. I ask that You will give to me right now, that miracle of grace that will give to me perfect freedom over tobacco. Help me to act on my trust in You and to come down out of the ship of complacency and inactivity and do what I know that I should do as Your child, by Your grace. Help me to experience this miracle that can keep happening in my life every day.

“If I make a mistake, Lord, and I begin to sink, save me when I call. Help me to turn me eyes toward You. I claim Your promise that You will help me keep on experiencing that miracle in my life which will impart to me that self- control over every craving of the flesh and of the eyes. May I experience Your love in my heart every day which will be a power over and against every wrong habit, for I come to You in the all- powerful name of Jesus, Amen. “

HOW TO OBTAIN DIVINE HELP OVER WRONG HABITS

  1. Realize that you need help to be set free from tobacco (John 15: 5; Jeremiah 33: 3).
  2. Know that God desires to provide this help to you (Isaiah 41: 10).
  3. Acknowledge your need and your willingness to come to God and fully cooperate with Him in causing a complete change to happen in your life (Matthew 11: 28- 30). It is vital that you not live in a state of denial. Acknowledge to God, verbally, your condition and need. Ask Him to give to you a change of mind about tobacco. Tobacco is not to be your master (Matthew 23: 10). This can only happen if you have a change of mind (heart). Confess your guilt and ask for release from the guilt and power of tobacco (I John 1: 9; Proverbs 28: 13).
  4. Ask for divine help to be set free from tobacco (Matthew 7: 7, 8).
  5. Choose to believe that God will fulfill His Word to give you perfect freedom over tobacco (Mark 9: 22, 23).
  6. Express trust in God and His promise to help you gain perfect freedom from tobacco (Luke 11: 13).
  7. Act on your belief by making a commitment to live a life of self- control enabled by God’s power (John 1: 12). It is not enough to be sorry. You must actively turn away from your former lifestyle (I Corinthians 9: 24- 27).
  8. Spend time fixing the divine promises in your memory. These promises will bring power into your life when you are assailed by perverted cravings. This is the weapon that Jesus Himself used when He was tempted on appetite (Matthew 4: 4).
  9. Ask for help in every time of temptation (Luke 18: 1, 7, 8; James 4: 7- 9). (God is not wearied by your continued requests for deliverance.)
  10. Express your joy verbally; thank God for helping you to control your appetite (Philippians 4: 4- 7).

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